Even so, the Service Club continues to interact in peace
by KyonxHaruhi
Summary: Story 3.3: "I guess that's true. I suppose I'm blessed my extremely cute underclassman is taking time out of her busy schedule to spend time with me." After Hachiman bares his heart to the Service Club, can the three of them continue as friends, or perhaps be even more? A series of slice of life chapters and small arcs about the Service Club and their various acquaintances
1. Hachiman, Yui, and Yukino

**A/N: **Assume this is set around the timeframe of 10.5. Unfortunately, I can't read moon, so I can't tell you what happens in 10.5 unless Spyro/Excorsism's done translating them. Maybe slight spoilers for anime-only watchers? Seriously, go read the LNs if you haven't yet.

Well, this is my first crack in writing fanfiction since I abandoned it all those years ago! Keeping my old stories up for reference, but man, they were bad. Hopefully this fandom becomes as big as the old fandom I used to write fanfics for. The way I write, assume they're all still speaking in Japanese and I'm translating.

Disclaimer: Not mine, it's Wataru Watari's etc. etc. Don't own anything I mention here as well. Sidenote, I really hate the localized title of this series.

Story 1: Even so, the **Service Club** continues to interact in peace

-0-

Consider the following:

When reading a light novel with the label 'romantic comedy', certain assumptions already come to mind. The mere term 'light novel', of course, already implies a certain level of literacy and content: to put it mildly, a 'light novel' with 'romantic comedy' elements implies certain expectations, which we call 'tropes', that should emerge in the process of writing the romantic comedy light novel. To put it as bluntly as possible, when reading a light novel under the genre of romantic comedy, you expect certain things to happen.

For example, the protagonist _must_ be as generic as possible, for easier self-insertion from the reader. Of course, he has to have some kind of character, so he has to have some quirk: a determination to create games, or maybe incredibly perverse tendencies, or even_ chuunibyou__**[1]**_ tendencies. But, strip away the defining quirk of the character, and you tend to get the same character archetype: nice, all-loving, somewhat dense, wants everyone to get along. In other words, an indecisive wimp. In most light novels, this character tends to join a highschool club with some weird, quirky goal like _Occult Research _or _Making Friends_, but be that as it may, it ends up with him meeting a quirky cast of characters, mostly female, to help him break out of his shell and/or find that elusive loved one.

Not that I hate this character _because_ of these characteristics. I understand all too well the pitfalls of the publishing industry – the need to have an easy, continuous source of story material to work with. In a romantic comedy, one cannot wrap up romantic options immediately, or risk losing the audience's attention. There are instances, of course, where you risk losing the audience by blue-balling them too much (_Nisekoi__**[2]**_comes to mind) but for the most part, you can milk a light novel series for all its worth by making the character this way.

This is because the main draw of the series is the variety of beautiful women that fawn over the protagonist, all loving illustrated by a (hopefully) dedicated illustrator. Indeed, one might say that the true draw of the light novel are the illustrations – the writer's job is to simply write a scenario where the illustrator can draw beautiful girls.

And so, when reading a love comedy light novel, you expect certain things: a dunce of a main character, a slew of women falling in love with him because of his niceness/bravery/skill in battle/heart of gold or some other nonsense. If the author wants to attract the _shounen_ audience, he writes in battle scenes and skimpy outfits for the women, all lovingly drawn by the illustrator (probably with just one hand, heh) and if he wants to come across as more 'literary' or 'artsy' he writes in dramatic moments, wordplay galore, or some other nonsense. _Monstory__**[3]**_, was it…? How should I know, I've never won any light novel awards.

Obviously, this kind of development never truly happens in real life. Source: me.

Normalfags (and maybe delusional _otaku_ as well) like to imagine that if you join a club with a predominantly female membership then you'll become popular and they'll fawn all over you, but that's fake as well. Source: me, once more.

An acquaintance of an acquaintance of mine has this to say: Instead of fawning all over you, most of the time they'll keep their conversations to themselves, paying no attention to you (or most likely make fun of your creepy eyes) and they'll probably talk about inane things like what did you have for lunch Yukinon, did you see that TV show last night Yukinon, no Yuigahama-san I was watching this adorable cat video while browsing for new Pan-san merchandise, ah that's interesting ha ha ha ha ha hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa….

Again, source: a friend of a friend.

Of course, hypothetically, if I _were_ in that situation, I would probably just lean back on my own chair and read the light novel I bought last week. Hypothetically, of course. Yup. Purely an invention of my mind.

_Coincidentally_, I was doing the same right now, reading a light novel I recently bought. To be honest, the plot itself was uninteresting, and the protagonist's meandering and inability to respond to the feelings of the women surrounding him was infuriating. That damn idiot, just come clean with your feelings…!

Truly, I felt bad for this fictional character.

I was in the Service Club room. The name 'Service Club', unlike the romantic comedy label, is misleading – we do very little service for other people. In fact, the name 'Service Club' itself is a misnomer – if anything, what we do is offer advice for the personal growth of the student populace. Ideally, that is. Instead, we end up being like stagehands in a play, running around doing all the work and setting the stage so the characters can act out their farce – err, rather, their play. Grunt work, basically. So in a sense, maybe calling us the Service Club was spot on…? Ugh, I've lost my train of thought.

What I want to say, perhaps, is that whatever assumptions you have about the name are probably wrong. Because, at its core, I think even our president has no idea what the club is supposed to do.

Speaking of our president, she was sitting at the opposite side of the table we use in club. Her name is Yukinoshita Yukino, a name that perfectly befits her image: ice-cold like snow, unapproachable, and yet undoubtedly mesmerizing. To look at her was to look at the sight of a vast, expansive tundra, to look at a great expanse of white wherever you look. Breathtaking in a lonely, cold sort of way.

Her appearance certainly didn't help matters: she was the spitting image of a _Yuki-onna_, which is perhaps why her name befits her image. She had long, black hair and a svelte, pale countenance that seemed frail and doll-like, resulting in an image of etherealness, of being otherwordly. Indeed, looking at her was like looking at someone who descended to this world from a different plane of existence.

In keeping with the theme I had established earlier in describing the Service Club, however, assumptions can be misleading. That is to sa-

"Hikigaya-kun." The voice was chilly, and I could swear I could see faint wisps of mist and snow emerge from her mouth.

"Uh. Huh. What is it, Yukinoshita?"

"You're staring. It's quite unsightly. It sends shivers up my spine, as if a stalker is following my every move."

I didn't respond. I _was_ staring at her, after all. I suppose you could say I was being rude.

"Normally, I would brush off people staring at me. After all, I am used to it," she subtly brags, adding a faint smile with her last sentence. She adjusted the strands of her hair. "However, those eyes of yours… truly, you have been cursed with a terrible burden. I feel sorry for the genes that Komachi-san inherited."

Komachi was my little sister, by the way.

"Heh. You're one to talk, Yukinoshita." I reply, raising my voice a little higher. Honestly, I imagined my voice would sound more like Wakamoto, but I sounded more like Eguchi. "As a matter of fact, I _was_ looking at you, or rather, I was resting my eyes, and they just so happened to stay on you. When you're studying, don't you need to rest your brain by concentrating on something simple and uncomplicated? That's the same concept here."

Yukinoshita sighed. "While the logic itself is sound, your application is questionable. Considering all you've been reading is that trashy novel, what does it say about your brain that you need to take a break in reading it?" She smiled again. _Damn it, she got me there_. "Furthermore, if you want to focus on simple and uncomplicated creatures, why not focus on Yuigahama-san?"

"Wha- huh?! Yukinooooooooon, that's mean! Why'd you have to drag me into it?!" Yuigahama, who was busy nibbling on cookies, immediately sprang into action as the straight man of Yukinoshita's joke.

"Well, it's true, I probably should have looked at Yuigahama-san first. I apologize for overlooking you, Gahama-chan~!" I hit my head with my knuckles and stuck out my tongue.

"No prob, Hikki! Wait…! Wait! You're still making fun of me! And I told you, I don't like being called Gahama-chan!" Yuigahama whined. She stood up and slammed her hands on the table, involuntarily causing her skirt to flutter. I had to avert my gaze.

"What, so should I call you Yui-Yui instead?"

"Ugh… I know I came up with that myself, but it still feels so weird when you say it, Hikki…"

Yuigahama Yui, according to my initial assumptions, was a slut, plain and simple. Airheaded, ditzy, hell, maybe call her a bimbo too while you're at it. I think she reminds me of a sprite…?

She looked gaudy with her flashy uniform and her…erm, modest proportions, colorful pink hair (did she dye that?), painted fingernails, numerous accessories hanging from her phone and her bag. She spent most of her time on her phone too, so I immediately assumed she was one of _those_ types.

Still, contrary to my assumptions, she was a really good person. Airheaded, sure, but she was good at playing along and inserting herself into any situation. In other words, the complete opposite of me and Yukinoshita. After all, Yukinoshita and I were friendless loners.

"Alright, Yuigahama-san, I believe that's enough histrionics out of you." Yukinoshita motioned for Yuigahama to sit down.

"His..tri…o? Is that some kind of electronic device?"

"Yuigahama-san, _please_ pick up a dictionary sometimes. I fear for your grades."

"Don't worry, Yukinon! I'm good when it comes to lunch time!"

"I was expecting you to say "crunch" time, but, ugh. Was that a pun?" I added.

"Heh, maybe." Yuigahama stuck out her tongue at me and blew a raspberry. Jeeez, Gahama-san, you're such a kiiiiiiid.

Yuigahama was giggling a bit now, and even Yukinoshita was smiling faintly. I relaxed my posture and turned towards them, laying my book on the table. To be honest, we haven't done this in a while, and ever since _that_ incident last Christmas, it feels like this is the first time we're actually doing this: talking freely with each other.

"So what were the two of you chatting about, anyway?" I asked. "I could hear bits and pieces of your conversation, but I was wrapped up in my novel."

"So you were paying attention, Hikki?" Yuigahama replied.

"I believe the proper term is 'eavesdropping', Yuigahama-san. That is what that man is skilled at, after all: stalker behavior."

"I will have you know that I limit my eavesdropping to silently observing from the sidelines and keeping notes in my head! I don't stalk people at all!"

"Hikki, isn't that the same thing…?"

"Yuigahama-san, I know that this might be hard to process for you, but there is a marked difference between observation and stalking. Stalking is done with the express purpose of finding out more about a person, after all. One might say to stalk someone is to want to get to know him better, to arrive at a full understanding of a person. As opposed to that, what I do is mere observation. Like a watcher in the night, or a security camera. Do you hate security cameras, Yuigahama?"

Yukinoshita groaned. "At its essence, you are still describing the same thing, Hikigaya-kun. Your logic is questionable as always. The basic chain of logic is there, but the premise itself is fundamentally faulty. For starters, everything you describe falls under the definition of stalking. Your 'mere observation' included.'"

"That's where you're mistaken, Yukinoshita. Are you familiar with the writings of Jacques Derrida?" I flashed a smug grin, knowing that it was likely these two were unaware of the French name I had uttered. "He describes how words do not necessarily have a one-to-one correspondence with meaning. For example, what is a cat? In French, a cat is _le chat_." Upon mentioning the word cat, Yukinoshita's eyes brightened.

"_Le chat_ is different from "the cat" – they're two fundamentally different words. But they refer to the same image: a round, tubby, hairy creature that makes noise when it's hungry and mistreats its master. By the same token, the word "cat" can have multiple meanings – different breeds of cats, or to describe a person as cat-like, or catty, or whatever."

"Where are you going with this…?" Yukinoshita said. "You're being extremely roundabout. I should not be surprised, but still."

"What I am saying is, words are fundamentally meaningless. It's a cat-and-mouse game with no endpoint in sight. What is the definition of a cat? You begin by defining everything else as "not a cat". You have a certain image, and you assign a word to describe it. Is that not the height of arbitrariness? And what's more, multiple words can refer to the same image, and a single word can refer to different definitions! What is a cat? Let's say "not a dog!" Well then, what is a dog? "Well, it isn't a table!" So on and so forth! An unending cycle! Our definition is simply another word that needs to be defined!"

By the way, I read all that from the Wikipedia article.

Yukinoshita sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, while Yuigahama looked as if her brain had shut down. "Somehow, I feel as if you sorely misunderstood what that man is saying. So, what is your conclusion? Shall we throw up our hands and admit that words are meaningless and conversation is pointless? After all, we can never truly arrive at the true meaning of words, judging from what your long-winded explanation."

Her voice trembled as she she seemed to spit out the question. Outwardly, Yukinoshita was as still as a doll, but the way she sat in her chair, rigid and unmoving, gave the illusion of trembling and unease.

After all, what I was proposing... flew in the face of the request I had made of these two.

"All I am saying is that your definition of stalking is too rigid…"

"But judging from your viewpoint, you are suggesting that we give up the pursuit of meaning altogether, no? That perhaps this conversation is pointless, in the end?" Yukinoshita's eyes tightened and glared at me.

I swallowed back a gulp. She looked at me, her eyes refusing to waver as she bore a hole through my entire consciousness with her gaze. It was as if she was trying to find _something_ in me, as if she was trying to find some opening or weakness.

_Are these conversations pointless?_ I didn't want to think so.

This was what I had asked of these two, what I had desired.

But had I also not dismissed this talk as superficial?

Yukinoshita and I deemed small talk useless. People danced around topics, nobody wanted to get straight to the matter. Instead, there were social niceties to be made. Ice breakers to get the conversation flowing. Ways to leave the conversation when things become awkward. Things you couldn't discuss in public, things that could not be verbalized except through vague hints, body language, discrete letters, eye contact, riddles.

I had prided myself on being able to see through the underlying thought process behind small talk; as an outsider, I could listen to their conversations and deduce what it is they _really_ meant.

"Hey, did you watch that TV show yesterday?"  
_Let's begin a conversation._

"Oh, I did! I really liked it when he kissed her!"  
_Alright, I'll bite._

"So, what do you want to get for lunch?"  
_What kind of person are you? What you eat should reveal that._

"Um, I don't know, I haven't decided yet."  
_I'm not sure I'm ready to reveal everything about me to you yet._

If that were the case, why couldn't they just come out and say what it is that they want to say?

That was why I believed Yukinoshita and I hated small talk.

…

So does that mean this conversation is pointless?

"Um…"

Yuigahama interjected.

"I… I think you guys are overthinking a little…you know? Um, that is, how should I explain it, ah…"

Yuigahama played with her fingers a little. Simultaneously, Yukinoshita and I looked at her. Yuigahama, realizing our gaze, blushed.

"I honestly don't get half of what Hikki said…actually, make that 90% of what Hikki said." Yuigahama started. "And I've never bothered thinking too deeply about what words mean. We just _know_ it, don't we?"

"Yes, but _how_ do we know we know it?" Yukinoshita replied. Her voice quivered a little – I think she was restraining herself, for Yuigahama's sake. If it were me, she probably would have raised her voice a little.

"I-I don't know h-h-how to put it into words," Yuigahama replied. She was getting scared of Yukinoshita's icy stare. "But, like, when you don't get something, you ask the person you're talking to, right?"

_But_, I thought, _words are unreliable in the first place. Even the person saying them is unsure what he means._

"Plus! Even if the person himself doesn't know what he's saying, he probably always asks himself what he means by it, right…? I mean, that's what I, um, like about you two…"

Where did Yuigahama get that from? Yukinoshita seemed startled, as she slightly averted her gaze away from Yuigahama. She seemed like she was blushing.

"Like… like when you two talk, it always feels like you're asking each other to clarify what the other person is saying. Like, "make yourself clearer". You don't just brush aside what Hikki is saying, you seem like you're earnestly trying to understand what he's saying." Yuigahama looked at me. "And Hikki does the same. You respond to what she's saying, you try to get to know her better. What she means with what she says."

"Plus…" Yuigahama's voice lowered. "If you're unsure of what your words mean, you spend a lot of time thinking about it. Like you're asking yourself what you mean. If…if that makes any sense, y'know?"

She looked away, embarrassed at the torrent of words.

Yuigahama clearly put a lot of thought into what she said, as if she had been thinking about it for the longest time.

It was not clearly articulated, and what she said was, logically speaking, senseless.

The question was whether or not there was meaning in the first place.

Yuigahama skirted around the issue, and optimistically pronounced that we can arrive at the true meaning of our words if we continue talking.

But, the problem was the possibility of words having meaning in the first place. Logically speaking, it doesn't make sense. No matter how hard you tried to convey your feelings towards another person, it would be jumbled up by words.

But…

When Yuigahama said it, I felt as if I understood what she was getting at. It was true that maybe conversation was useless, _if_ both parties never bothered trying to understand what they were talking about.

What Yuigahama suggested was different from just talking. What Yuigahama suggested, I thought, was far more than just chatting about the latest television show or asking about what to get for lunch.

What Yuigahama suggested was a continuous, never-ending process. There might not be a conclusion in sight. We could talk in circles, over and over, and the possibility was high that we would never get anywhere.

But the people involved in the conversation sought a deeper understanding of the other person involved. They wanted to know that person more, and so continued to ask, to grope, to find the right words, hoping desperately that they could transmit the right emotions.

Was it possible? Or was it a fairy tale?

Like a light novel that evokes assumptions from its readers, words come with baggage and expectations. And yet sometimes these expectations can mislead. One only needs to look at the name 'Service Club', or look at Yukinoshita Yukino or Yuigahama Yui. Yukinoshita, who was a perfect beauty, and yet was a friendless loner, who was abrasive to most people, who despised small talk. Yuigahama, who looked like a happy-go-lucky, airheaded ditz, and yet she sought for something more than shallow understanding and was unusually perceptive.

Would I have gotten to know them better had I simply continued believing my assumptions? Didn't I know more about them by staying in this club and doing my best to get to know them better? Isn't it true that, after all these months, I think I have a better understanding of them as people now?

Yukinoshita sighed as she looked at me, as if she could read the words running in my head. She turned to Yuigahama, who was busy mumbling "Ah...um..."

"While I feel your argument has holes in it," Yukinoshita coolly began, "I find myself agreeing with you. And in the first place, this entire conversation began from _that_ guy's worthless musings. It probably means little, in the first place." She looked at me.

I was expecting her to glare, but her smile had a hint of warmness.

"Heh… that's true. It's pretty rare to hear something profound from Yuigahama-san, so perhaps I'll concede that she's right." I rubbed the back of my neck in embarassment.

"R-Really? Wait, wait, I think you just insulted me!"

I let out a small chuckle as Yuigahama came over to my side and started hitting me on the shoulder. "Hikki…! Why're you so meaaaaan! You too, Yukinon! You always team up to bully me! Ah, ah, waaaaah…"

Yukinon began to comfort Yuigahama-san, coaxing her back to her seat. She took the teacups sitting at the corner of the room, wiped them clean with a towel, and begun pouring tea. With practiced ease, she brought our teacups to our table. I took my Pan-san teacup and begun blowing on it gently. Hey, I have a cat's tongue, you know?

"Now, now, Yuigahama-san. I believe we can leave it at that. The topic Hikigaya-kun brought up in the first place seems ill-advised, considering his understanding of it is sorely lacking." Great, Yukinoshita was admonishing me now. "But I admire your efforts at keeping up with our inane conversation."

She let out a sigh and smiled. "I would like to apologize, too. Perhaps I was making too much fun of you. Your words do ring of truth, and I was wrong to demean that."

She turned her eyes at me and continued. "Perhaps you deserve an apology too, Hikigaya-kun. I feel I was being too aggressive on you earlier."

"Er, ah, um, it's nothing. I was just bullshitting anyway, or something…" my words trailed off near the end. "Sorry, too, Yukinoshita. For bringing up something so worthless in the first place. You too, Yuigahama. I probably went overboard with the teasing."

Yukinoshita smiled. "Then that's that. Although, I believe it isn't as worthless as you believe it is, Hikigaya-kun. Your arguments provoked interesting comments and thoughts, after all. I may have to meditate on it later." What, are you going to research it online?

"Wouldn't you rather spend your time looking up cat videos instead?" I asked.

Yukinoshita blushed, looked away, and stammered. "I, I, I will have you know that I do not spend all my time watching cat videos, Hikigaya-kun. I hope you remove this twisted notion you have of me and cat videos…"

"No, if anything, it's your fault for propagating that image, you know…? I bet when you and Yurigahama, er, Yuigahama, spend the night together you force her to watch cat DVDs."

By this time Yuigahama had stopped crying and looked at the two of us arguing. She had wiped away her tears, following the ping pong ball of our conversation, looking for an appropriate entrance, the right way to integrate herself into our conversation. "That's not true, Hikki! Yukinon also has Pan-san videos!"

"Yuigahama-san…!" Yukino let out a high-pitched squeal. "I-If you insist on revealing such matters, I will be forced never to invite you to my home again!"

"Waaaaaah? Yukinooooon, doon't! I want to sleep with you again!"

"Hey, hey, Yurigahama, stop triggering Yukinoshita's flags!" I added. "Also, don't say stuff like that, people will misunderstand!"

And so, the day passed, without incident. No client came today, which was actually normal. After all, we weren't a club full of supernatural warriors, dealing with earth-shattering threats. We were just a bunch of high school students – even if two of us were terrible loners.

I like to think that, compared to a few months ago, the coldness in this room had vanished. Instead, the warm scent of tea permeated every corner of the room.

I wondered, how different are these conversations from those conversations I hated?

I believed, from the bottom of my heart, that we were arriving at something, even if all we did was talk in circles.

When the two of them had said that they were still fulfilling my request, was this what meant?

Even I had no idea what I had meant by then.

Even so, days like this, where we could just talk to each other freely, felt as if they were the most important memories in the world…

And so, as we cleaned up the room and prepared to leave, leaving the warmth and safety of the club room to brave the cold, outside world, I thought, _maybe I can stand the cold. I'm with the two of them, after all._

So I turned around them, mustering my most sincere smile, and said, from the bottom my heart:

"See you tomorrow."  
_I had fun today._

Their reply, sweet as MAX coffee, was followed up with smiles as bright as the sun. Even if the smiles came from the coldest _Yuki-onna_ and the most airheaded sprite I had ever known, they filled me with warmth.

"See ya tomorrow, Hikki!"  
_I want to do this again tomorrow!_

"See you tomorrow, Hikigaya-kun."_  
Today was enjoyable as well._

As far as romantic comedy situations go, this wasn't half-bad.

-0-

**Extra Conversation**

"Yukinoshita, what's that you're reading?"

"This? Oh, _The Catcher in the Rye_. I feel it gives me more insight into a certain _someone_."

"Oi, oi, are you making fun of me? I'll have you know I hate the protagonist there. Whiny little kid."

"Hikigaya-kun, I wish you would have more self-awareness…"

"Eh? Catch, za, lie? Someone who detects lies?"

"Yuigahama-san, I feel like you have to brush up in your English, although you're eerily close…"

**My Cute Classmate Can't Be This Dumb (text message, 21:00-21:14)**

From: Yui  
Title: nontitle

hey hikki, wots d title of d novel u &amp; yukinon were talking abt earlier? (*￣m￣)

From: Hachiman  
Title: Re

_The Catcher in the Rye_. Why, are you interested? The language might be a little off-putting to you.

From: Yui  
Title: Re2

yah! yukinon sed it myt help me understnd ur rants better（＞д＜）

iz it a jpnese novel? (｀・ω・´)"

From: Hachiman  
Title: Re3

…no. I said the title in English, didn't I? Although I read the Japanese translation. I bet Yukinoshita read it in English, since she's arrogant like that. And what the hell does Yukinoshita mean by "understand my rants better?"

Anyway, I can lend you my copy if you want. Just make sure you don't mess it up.

From: Yui  
Title: Re4

im sure she means well, Hikki! thx too! Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

-0-

**A/N**: So did you like it? Leave a review!

Also, I'll use this part as a manifesto: we need more happy Oregairu stories. What I find distressing is that one of the best fanfics in this fandom, frog-kun's _The End of the Affair_, is relentlessly depressing. As the translator of volumes 1-4 of the novel, I'm not surprised; the development in those novels certainly lead somebody to the impression that what frog-kun wrote is plausible. (Thanks for translating the novels, by the way)

But, with the current available material to us, and considering just how much the Service Club's suffered dramatically, we're sorely lacking in cooldown stories, stuff that just shows the Service Club interacting normally. The ending of volume 9 is perfect in this regard; their relationship is the strongest it's ever been. I'd like to imagine that the conversation I depict in my fanfic is possible _only_ because of the fallout of that volume, that they can only talk this way now that they've made the decision to be more open to each other, or at least _try _to.

So that's that. My goal is to write more slice of life, fluffy (Shiromeguri-senpai~), slightly happier stories for the Service Club and their friends. Of course, you can't remove drama from the equation, and if I find the energy, I'll write out an arc and everything depicting the growing relationship between these three lovable idiots. But I assure you, dear readers, that everything here will end up happily. Because, at its core, I believe Oregairu is an optimistic story, despite all the unhappiness and loneliness that surrounds its characters.

Also, if you have any characters you wish to be depicted, or scenarios you want to see (like Komachi and Iroha interacting, for example), feel free to suggest in your reviews. I'd just like to preemptively warn everyone that I have a hard time writing Zaimokuza and Totsuka, the former because he honestly has no purpose in the narrative now except as a butt for jokes, and volume 10 Totsuka's pretty much the perfect note to leave him on. (In that regard, I should probably exclude those two other guys in Hayama's clique that isn't Tobe, huh?)

So if you want to see more of characters like Hayama, Tobe, Kawasomething-san, Miura, Ebina, Rumi, or whoever else, feel free to leave a comment in the review section. If not, I'll just keep churning out more stuff in this vein, with the occasional 'problem of the arc'.

* * *

[1] A Japanese slang term which roughly translates to "Middle School 2nd Year Syndrome". People with chuunibyou either act like a know-it-all adult and look down on real ones, or believe they have special powers unlike others.

Examples include this one guy I know. Zai-kun? Zaimos? Zaimokuzaki? Um, dear me, I seem to have forgotten (lol). In any case, they're basically people who are ostracized from the rest of normalfag society because they want to believe they're special and flaunt it in front of normalfags everywhere.

[2] Some fanservice series where a ton of women fall in love with the protagonist. I think there's something about a key and childhood friend promises or something? I just read the entry on Wikipedia.

[3] I'd give a name, but I don't want to infringe on copyrights. Bakemo…


	2. Hachiman and Yui

A/N: Lots of people wanted Iroha, someone asked for Komachi/Iroha, and some brave soul remembered Kawasomething-san. Alright, I'll incorporate them somehow... in my next arc. For now, I'm starting a little arc which will span two-three chapters, featuring one of my favorite side-characters. Can you guess who it is?

Story 2.1: Today, **Yuigahama Yui** will do her best as well

-0-

When confronted with an insurmountable problem, what is the proper response?

If you were to ask a normal person, he would, without fail, reply, "I will do my best!"

This is because the ethos of the modern man is rooted in the belief, echoed many years ago by the suffragettes: "We can do this!"

The belief that fuels this absurd statement, of course, is simple: with hard work and determination, humanity is capable of achieving any feat. Inevitably, this will be followed up with a list of achievements mankind has achieved, such as the airplane or the first man on the moon. (On a related note, why do we love to quote these achievements as mankind's finest? Is it because for one shining moment we delude ourselves into thinking we have touched the heavens?)

In any case, I find these thoughts laughable. While it is true that humanity as a whole has achieved many impressive feats, the sordid truth beneath the glamour and success are the corpses of failures, humans who dreamed to reach the skies or the stars, all of whom died or failed in the quest. If, in fact, hard work and determination were the key to success, why is the path to the moon littered with the corpses of astronauts? Did they just not work hard enough?

If we think about it this way, then Neil Armstrong's success is built on top of innumerable corpses, whose names have been lost to time. If we were to imagine the goal as the top of a mountain, Neil Armstrong only made it through the top thanks to the many people who have died on the way to show him the correct path.

Are we to laugh at their 'hard work' and 'determination'? Surely, these people also gave their best effort, considering many of them were willing to die for the sake of their goal. But doesn't that contradict the idea that doing your best will inevitably lead to success?

If you ask me, blind optimism in the idea of hard work is dangerously naive. To work hard does not guarantee success; if anything, 90% of the time you are simply the stepping stone for some other creature's success. If that is the case, is it not true that failing is actually a desirable action? If you fail, you are helping someone who will come after you succeed. Is there anything as noble as using your own body as a bridge so that someone else may use it to cross that insurmountable chasm?

Therefore, I conclude: to work is to lose, and to work hard is to lose hard. Probability suggests that your hard work will never amount to anything. In that sense, isn't it more prudent to save your energy and lose gracefully, so that some other person may pick up your slack? After all, for 90% of the populace, to try hard is simply to uselessly struggle against reality.

If so, when faced with an insurmountable problem, my reply would be: _I'd rather go to sleep_.

Still... doesn't it make you feel bad when hard work doesn't pay off?

-0-

When I arrived at the club room, I was greeted by the sight of Yuigahama Yui, alone.

She had her elbows on top of the table, her hands supporting her chin as she slightly leaned forward. Her, err, chest was squished on top of the table, and try as I might I could not help but notice the top button of her blouse unbuttoned, inviting me to look at what lay beneath them. _One of these days, I have to warn Yuigahama not to do this in front of me_, I thought.

Her eyes were half-closed, as if she were asleep, but on further inspection, I could see she was wearing incredibly pink earphones connected to that giant brick of a phone that she used, which was lying in front of her on the table. She was quietly humming along, her body swaying to and fro to the rhythm of music I didn't know; she was also tapping her foot, like she was playing the drums. Since I wasn't up to date on my popular music, I had no idea what song she was listening to, and honestly, I probably wouldn't have liked it.

_Yeah, that's right, Yuigahama's a normal girl, huh? She listens to music too_. Of course she was, why am I thinking these things?

Come to think of it, I had never asked her what she listens to, hadn't I?

I grabbed a seat and dragged it to my end of the table, wondering if Yuigahama would notice, but she was still engrossed in her music. I could hear faint sounds coming from her earphones, and it sounded like a female's voice. Hey, could you at least invest in earphones that don't leak out sound? You don't want to bother people nearby, after all.

For example, I always made sure my own earphones were soundproof.

When it became clear that Yuigahama wouldn't notice my presence (a fact that Yukinoshita would have gladly made use of to make fun of me), I cleared my throat, as if to cough. This wasn't a thing that I used often, since most of the time I didn't want to engage in conversation in the first place, but I didn't want Yuigahama and I to just ignore each other.

At first, Yuigahama seemed not to notice my noise, but she slowly opened her eyes and looked at my direction. She was still humming and swaying to some imaginary beat as she craned her neck and looked at me, slightly in a daze. I could almost hear the gears in her brain rumbling, trying to recall where she was and who she was looking at.

"Ah...oh! Hikki! Yahallo!"

Yuigahama had removed her earphones and greeted me, waving her arms in an exaggerated fashion.

"Yo, Yuigahama. You're alone today?"

Yuigahama nodded. "Yeah, when I got here, Yukinon wasn't here, so I borrowed the key from Hiratsuka-sensei. Did you just get here?"

"Sort of," I replied. I didn't want to tell her I had been staring at her for a full five minutes now. "Class duty took a bit of time to finish, considering who I was paired with."

"That's right, you were with Sagami-chan, right?" Yui asked, tilting her head to the left. "Um, how was she?"

"Same old, same old. She was pretty much ignoring me the whole time, so it felt like I was working alone. Well, not that I'm unused to it, but it felt weird this time since I could feel her staring daggers at my back."

Due to a variety of factors, Minami Sagami hated me. A big part of this was the events of the Cultural Festival a few months back, and it seems like she still hasn't forgiven me for that. After all, you don't just verbally insult a fellow student and call her out on her bullshit minutes before she's set to deliver a big speech in front of the largest crowd she'd probably ever face.

Since that day our relationship was, well, icy, to put it mildly.

"Still, I'm used to being shunned by my classmates, so this is fine." I let out a derisive laugh.

Yuigahama's shoulders slumped. "Oh... I thought Sagami-chan had forgotten all about you... sorry 'bout that, Hikki."

Now, why are you apologizing for her? It's not like you did anything wrong in the first place, right? Everything there was my call.

"Well, what's done is done. Putting that aside, Yuigahama, what were you listening to? You were really into it."

"Huh? Oh, this? I was listening to this cute artist..."

Yuigahama began talking about some up and coming female singer. Honestly, I hadn't heard of her, but it turns out she was becoming more popular with female high schoolers. Miura, who was Yuigahama's friend from our class, had recommended she listen to them, so that was what she was doing now.

"Truth be told, I'm not all that interested in the first place, but is this the kind of music you're into, Yuigahama?" I asked.

"Well, I'm not exactly big on any kind of music." Yuigahama replied. "I'm willing to try out any artist once, and I, like, don't have any preferences, y'know?" She said all this while scanning something in her phone - probably mails from her friends - before turning to me. "How 'bout you, Hikki? Whatcha listening to?"

Setting aside how she was starting to use more contractions, Yuigahama certainly knew how to keep a conversation flowing. I had asked her what kind of music she listened to purely to satisfy my own curiosity, and despite not actually having any intense interest in music she was able to field the question in a way that allowed her to reply and return the question to me. _Maybe I'm just overthinking it, though..._

"W-well... I have interests, sure, but knowing you, you've probably never heard of them before...?" I looked away, scratching my nose and chuckling nervously. Obviously, I couldn't tell her most of the playlist in my smartphone were anime songs and the occasional band. In terms of musical taste, I was hopelessly outdated.

Yuigahama pouted. "Geez, Hikki, that's a really vague answer. Just what kind of things do you listen to...?" She went "Hm..." for a second before a light bulb seemingly flashed in her head. "Don't tell me you listen to... _that?_"

What the hell is _that_? And why does it sound like you're so grossed out, Yuigahama?

"Y-you know! Those weird things where the people talking go nyaaa and make weird sounds with their throats and squeal like little girls..."

"Um, that sounds weird, definitely. Where the hell did you hear about that stuff, and why the hell are you assuming I'd listen to that?"

"Doesn't Chuuni give you that kind of stuff regularly?"

"Chuuni," by the way, was an acquaintance of mine, Yoshiteru Zaimokuza.

"I-I overheard some _otaku_ in class talk about it!" Yuigahama defensively waved her hands in front of me, liking trying to wipe a whiteboard clean with a rag.

"Are you trying to say I'm into the kind of gross things they're into?"

"No, no, not at all! I just, ah, said the first thing that came to my mind!" Yuigahama's voiced lowered near the end. "I have no idea what you listen to, after all..."

While I should have been more offended that Yuigahama immediately associated me with the kind of gross things Zaimokuza would listen to, what she said was fundamentally true. We did have no idea what the other person listened to. And while I had a vague idea, I didn't know what Yuigahama did in her free time. After all, I wasn't the kind of person who normally talked about these things.

And yet, when I saw Yuigahama upon entering the club room, my first thought was that _I wanted to know what she was listening to_.

"I guess you're right. You _do_ have no idea what I normally listen to, or my hobbies, or whatever. And the same is true for me." I placed my left elbow on the table and leaned forward. For the most part, whenever Yuigahama starts talking, I usually just brushed her off.

"That's because you keep ignoring me, Hikki! I always ask you these kinds of stuff!" Yuigahama energetically replied. "But you always brush me off, 'cause you're reading your novels or eating a cookie or something!"

"Well, you're always so busy chatting up Yukinoshita, you know." I replied, a little embarrassed at my behavior. "It always feels wrong butting in the conversation, like I shouldn't be there."

It was like entering the classroom in the middle of a teacher's lecture. You were hopelessly out of touch with what he was saying, and everyone's eyes were on you. Because of that, I had mastered the power of not being noticed whenever I left or entered the classroom. It felt wrong to enter in the middle of a conversation, you know?

Yuigahama looked me with those troubled, puppy-dog eyes. "That's not it, you know...? I want to talk to Yukinon _and_ you..."

"Well... the fault is on my side, I guess... for not playing along... maybe?" I lamely offered.

The fact of the matter is, there was no way I could interrupt a conversation between those two girls, as awkward and halting as their conversation can be at times. After all, what could I talk about when they talked about typically girly stuff? That was why I always had my smartphone or a book in hand, so I could at least pretend I was doing something else. That's another one of the loner skills I had acquired, by the way.

"Hikki..." Yuigahama began to say, but her voice quivered for a moment. She wanted to say something, but stopped herself. Her hands curled up in a ball and went up to her chest, as if trying to contain something that wanted to explode from beneath her chest. "You know you could always join in, right?"

I... didn't think I could.

I looked away from Yuigahama, whose face was looking more and more troubled by the second. I couldn't bear looking at her, with her small lips trembling slightly, seemingly preventing emotion from escaping.

In that moment I was forced to realize that she looked so vulnerable, like a lost dog. I felt something cold creep into my chest, wrapping around my heart, as I looked at her forlorn, sorrowful face.

I mentally cursed myself for making her feel this way. Yuigahama shouldn't be the type of person who was troubled, or overcome with negative emotions; it didn't suit her. If anything, a smiling face suited her better. She was the kind of person who should be laughing without a care in the world.

She...

...looks more beautiful when she smiles.

Trying to pass it off as nonchalantly as possible, I said to nobody in particular, "Well... honestly, most of what I listen to are audiobooks."

"Audio...books?" Yuigahama asked. I dared not look at her yet; I didn't know if I could take it.

"They're, ah, recordings of people reading books." I explained. "Sometimes, the author reads it, or sometimes, a famous actor or whatever." I took out my smartphone and turned towards Yuigahama to show my collection. Thankfully, Yuigahama's face had eased up. "Here, check it out."

I handed her my smartphone, and Yuigahama quickly started scanning through my files. I realized she probably could have looked at my songs, but at this point I couldn't care less anymore.

"I see... Hikki, are these kind of like those CDs that have recordings of textbooks?"

"Oh, you mean like those recordings that teach you lessons while you sleep? Stuff like foreign languages? Yeah, I guess there's a similarity."

Yuigahama nodded, satisfied by my lackadaisical explanation. "I get it! This is pretty interesting, Hikki!" She was beaming at me now, erasing the chilling sensation in my chest. "I kind of want to try these out now! They might make reading novels waaaaaay more easier, don't you think?"

I chuckled at her suggestion. "Yuigahama, in the first place, you'd need to improve your literacy rate to be able to follow these audiobooks. Otherwise you'd just doze off in the middle of it and wake up realizing you're halfway through the novel already."

"W-what?! Don't you trust me, Hikki?!"

I laughed again as Yuigahama fumed at me, indignant at my remarks about her literacy (or lack thereof), before realizing I actually had something to give to Yuigahama. I grabbed my bag and rummaged through its contents until I found the book I was looking for.

"Yuigahama. Here." I handed the slightly used book to Yuigahama, who looked at me, bewildered.

"Eh? What's this, Hikki?"

"Well... you wanted to borrow this, right?" The book I handed to her was _The Catcher in the Rye_.

For a brief moment I felt that she had no idea what I was talking about, and I had a sinking feeling that she had forgotten all about our mail exchange last night. Thankfully, she seemed to have recalled it, as her face lit up in a radiant smile as she hugged the book close to her chest. _Hey, that was in the posession of a boy, you know? Have a little more self-awareness, Gahama-chan!_

"Hikki... thanks! Thanks so much!" Her giddiness was infectious, as I smiled at the sight of her acting all excited over the ratty old book. There weren't a lot of a high school girls who would enjoy being gifted an old Western novel, right? And yet Yuigahama was acting like she received the Gift of the Magi, or something grandiose like that.

"Ahahahaha... thanks, Hikki. This is something you read and enjoyed, so I'm sure I'll appreciate it." Yuigahama said, still hugging the book tightly against her chest. _Seriously, be more self-conscious..._

"Well, I don't know if you'll enjoy it, though," I replied, rubbing my hair as I looked away. "That's not normally something you'd read, right?"

"That's true, but this is something you think is worth reading, so I'll definitely enjoy it! Besides," she looked at me sheepishly, her cheeks faintly red, "I feel like I'll understand you better if I try to read the things you read all the time."

Her words sent a jolt throughout my body - my blood felt heavy, as some force seemed to circulate through my blood cells and permeated my entirety.

Yuigahama Yui, all this time, had been desperately trying to understand Yukinoshita Yukino and Hikigaya Hachiman. Even if it was out of her comfort zone, she pushed herself to try and keep up with what we were interested in. In terms of dedication, Yuigahama Yui definitely surpassed either Yukinoshita Yukino or Hikigaya Hachiman.

Yuigahama wasn't a model student; in fact, she, by her own admission, hovered dangerously close to the lower rung of our class, not to mention the entire year. She always had a hard time studying and grasping things, and just muddled through exams and class. This isn't to say I condemn her for not being smart or not doing her best - after all, some people were skilled at schoolwork, while others weren't. If we were to look at the way school rankings worked, people at the bottom were doomed to the fate of making those at the top look good. After all, saying you were #1 meant little if you were the only competitor, right?

Yuigahama simply wasn't someone like Yukinoshita, who was both blessed with incredibly intelligence, studied hard and was rewarded accordingly. Unfortunately, all she could boast of was an incredible amount of energy, like her runaway dog Sable. And even then, that energy was not infinite, and no matter how hard she would try to study, she simply would not be able to compete with Yukinoshita.

In short, I wouldn't have faulted her if she just chose to give up and accept that the wall known as Yukinoshita Yukino was insurmountable. To put it harshly, Yuigahama was simply a sacrifice on the path to the top of the mountain that Yukinoshita pursued.

Nevertheless, here she was, stumbling onwards, in her own, clumsy manner.

I didn't know if it was ignorance or bullheadedness that spurred her on.

But I knew that I couldn't deny her pure, simple wish.

And so, I had to respond accordingly.

"You know, Yuigahama..." I began haltingly, taking into account Yuigahama's expression. "It would be nice if I could listen to the stuff you listen to." Yuigahama looked at me, somewhat confused at what I was saying. "Do you think you could... lend me a CD or something? So I'm not hopelessly out of date when it comes to popular music."

Yuigahama's smile blinded me in its brilliance; her mouth slowly opened wide as she began to talk excitedly. "O-o-of course! You can borrow my stuff anytime, Hikki! Um, but I'll, like, have to look for them, my room's kind of a mess and cleaning up is such a pain, you know? Anyway, sure, definitely, I'll give you some of my stuff! Oh, maybe I should get you this... but, you might like that better..."

She was talking extremely fast, and I had to pay close attention to what she was saying if I wanted to keep up. In a way, I think I could feel a bit of what Yuigahama has to go through when she has to listen to my conversations with Yukinoshita.

"...this feels good, Hikki." Yuigahama blurted out something incomprehensible, in the middle of her ramblings. She was looking down at her feet, but she raised her eyes to meet mine. I felt my face blush in embarrassment as Yuigahama looked at me, twiddling her fingers.

"...huh?"

"It feels like a long time since we've been able to talk like this." Yuigahama said.

"I...guess so." I replied, a little embarrassed at what she said.

"It's pretty rare for us to get to talk like this... usually something weird happens."

There was a scene - a few months ago - that I had hoped to forget; Yuigahama in her splendid clothes, walking besides me as we made our way to the fireworks festival - the feeling of having to stand aside as Yuigahama conversed with Sagami and her friends, of having to excuse myself when they realized my presence, of having to deal with Yukinoshita Haruno's meddling...

At that time, I was sure Yuigahama had plenty of things she wanted to say, but every time, something interfered. Even worse was, when Haruno-san's car arrived, things between Yuigahama and I became tense.

"Yeah... things kept coming up, huh?"

When was the last time we got to talk like this, just the two of us? The Cultural Festival? Flashes of an irresponsible promise came to my mind, and I realized once again that I had many things I had to make up for to Yuigahama. Or maybe after the Student Elections? Once again, numerous mistakes, innumerable failures haunted us every time we talked.

"It would be nice if... if we could talk like this more often." I said, to nobody in particular. "To clear the air, I guess." I searched her face for anything resembling resentment at my previous mistakes, and found nothing. I looked her in the eye, wondering if she would betray any emotion resembling anger at me.

"I... agree." Yuigahama's smile was gentle and full of understanding. She didn't have to say anything; one look told me all I needed to know: _it's okay_.

I felt something painful shoot through my chest - _why are you doing this for me_ \- and swallowed it down.

I had once argued that Yuigahama Yui was a nice girl.

I told myself that her kindness to me was misguided, borne out of pity for the kind of person that I was.

There goes that scene again: _the car screeching to a halt, my body reeling in as I shielded the dog, her screams reverberating (it hurts) in my skull like an echo chamber forever (it hurts) haunting my conscious (it hurts)ness the blinding pain a crack my consciousness fading (it hurts) im sorry someone please save (it hurt) him please he doesnt deserve to be (hurt) _

I swallowed it all down.

I looked at Yuigahama again.

One day, I think, I'll be able to accept her smile wholeheartedly.

"Well... that's that. Can you lend me a CD tomorrow?" I asked.

"Of course!" Yuigahama replied.

At that moment, we heard a knock on the door, followed by the sound of it gently opening.

I felt a cool gust of wind permeate the room, the sensation of cold winter entering our warm, cozy haven. Yukinoshita Yukino, the ice queen, the cold, mysterious beauty, whose appearance entranced me, entered the room.

Behind her, a completely different person entered, and brought with her a different kind of sensation: warmth, softness, comfort.

Shiromeguri Meguri-senpai appeared before us, her appearance one that made me feel fluffy inside.

-0-

**One day… in the Hikigaya household**

"Onii-chan… where did you go the other weekend?"

"Uh, out exploring. What is it, Komachi?"

"Liar."

"Wha?! What's with this Higurashi-like atmosphere?!"

"I looked for you via GPS, you know. It's really easy to track down your phone. You were at that newly opened mall, right?"

"Y-yeah…"

"So, who were you with?"

"A-A friend…"

"Onii-chan, you and I both know you don't have friends. So, who was it? Yukinoshita-san? Yuigahama-san?"

"A-actually… it was an underclassman. It was a favor for her, I swear!"

"An… an underclassman? Her? Onii-chan, who the hell is thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis?"

"Wait, Komachi! I can explain!"

-0-

A/N: So yeah, this little arc will focus on Meguri~. Don't worry, it's nothing dramatic. Meguri-senpai isn't the kind of person that brings serious, dramatic issues, you know? Next chapter, hopefully, is the conclusion of this arc, and it should be more lighthearted and fluffy. Like Meguri~


	3. Hachiman and Yukino

A/N: You guys have no idea how much the release of Chapters 3 and 4 of Volume 10.5 makes me happy. After all the bullshit Yui goes through in volume 7-8/the recent anime episodes, just having to read the Service Club working on something lighthearted and helping each other out was amazing. It helps that those stories really capture the tone of what I'm going for in this series.

There's a certain scene here that I imagine Yukino talking in Saori Hayama's Hatoko voice. _Wakaranai yo, wakaranai yo_. Goddamn, she really nails her character's emotions really well.

Anyway, let's go!

-0-

Story 2.2: **Yukinoshita Yukino **speaks her thoughts

**Yuigahama Yui's Mobile Diary: Entry X  
Mood: happy ^_^**

omg omg i was able to borrow one of hikki's books! \\(O_O)/ he told me the language was "off-putting" (what does he mean by THAT) but when i glanced at the copy he lent me it wasn't that hard to read. or is it bcoz hikki's way worse when he talks like that?

yukinon told me she thinks the book can help me undrstnd hikki better but wen i asked hikki all he said was "humans aren't so easily classified like characters in novels, Yuigahama. You mustn't make the mistake of assuming we can be explained away as characters in books." he strtd ranting and i lost track ;_; (altho i think he was at the end too, he does that sometimes)

also! hikki sed he wnted to listen to my music! Must find something for him later!

I think we're getting closer now! me n hikki n yukinon!

-0-

I felt a blast of comfy air blow through my entire essence as the Megu Megu Megurin Megurin Power began its magic. For a moment I imagined myself floating naked in a void of psychedelic colors, communicating with nothing but my mind and my thoughts. Truly, this comfy Newtype[1] could save the world.

…I definitely did not imagine everyone floating naked in space. Obviously.

If Yuigahama Yui was an airheaded sprite, Shiromeguri Meguri was the wind itself, in that everything she did seemed airy and effortless. Even her movements were graceful, as if gravity had no control over her slender body. She had greyish, murky, half-closed eyes and curly, shoulder-length brown hair wrapped up in two twin braids of unequal length– two pink hair clips adorned the fringe of her hair on the left side of her face, the shorter side, and one hair clip on the right. Because of the extreme coldness of the season, she was wearing the school blazer, but in most instances she chose not to wear them. The total opposite of Yukinoshita, who always insisted on dressing up in the complete school uniform regardless of the weather.

The sheer asymmetry of her face was something I could not help but notice, as it complemented her personality. From her looks alone, she must have seemed unusual in her asymmetry, but I only found her alluring. Dammit, my heart was getting Meguri'd…!

But more than that, her disorganized appearance revealed her easygoing attitude towards everything. Even when we came into contact with her during the Cultural Festival, I had always seen her as an airy, unreliable person, and wondered how she could have been the Student Council President, but it seems this very airiness to her encouraged the council to work even harder. Did she have some kind of virus, and infect the rest of the student council?

When she had approached us for the Athletics Festival, similar things happened, and we found ourselves infected, unnaturally willing to go all out to fulfill her request of winning the event. Um, was this all part of her plan…? I didn't want to think so – unlike Yuigahama, whose air-headed nature concealed an extremely honed sense of social aptitude and ability to read situations, Shiromeguri-senpai seemed to live 24/7 in a dream-like world where she did as she pleased and got everyone to come along for the ride.

Well, my instincts weren't going haywire on her like they did on, say, Isshiki Iroha, so I've always looked at her simply as an unreliable upperclassman with a surprisingly good ability to convince people to get along. Really, the contrast between the two student council presidents was widening, wasn't it…?

In any case, why was the possessor of the Megu Megu Megurin Megurin Power here?

"Allow me to explain." Yukinoshita Yukino began. "I encountered Shiromeguri-senpai on the way here – it seems she was waiting for me outside my classroom but had…dozed off." She looked outside the door. "Incidentally, I ran into Isshiki-san on the way here. It seems she wanted to go here today as well, but I told her to leave since we were about to begin club activities."

"Eh, that's not true, Yukinoshita-san~" Shiromeguri-senpai corrected, "I was just taking a nap, you know~?" She clapped her hands together, and I swear I could see flowers drawn by crayons emerge around her head. Truly, her disposition was as sunny as these days are chilly.

"That is not the point, Shiromeguri-sen-"

"Ah, and I said you could call Meguri-chan, you know~ even Hikigaya-kun here can, ahahahaha~"

Scary! That was scary! I was nearly Meguri'd there! For the second time! Yuigahama let out a nervous laugh. You would think the two would get along, considering their respective natures, but it seems even Yuigahama is unnerved by Shiromeguri-senpai's easygoing aura.

"Very well then. Meguri -_senpai _here, to cut a long story short, wishes to request the assistance of us, the Service Club." Yukinoshita, seemingly unaffected by the Megurin Power, immediately bounced back with a retort of her own and cut through the heart of the matter in one fell stroke. Hey, Yukinoshita, can you cut the Gordian Knot[2] next time?

"What kind of request is it?" I asked, resting my left elbow on the table as my palms propped up my chin.

"W-whatever it is, we can help!" Yuigahama contributed.

"Well…" Shiromeguri-senpai giggled. "It's actually not that much of a big deal… Yukino-chan here actually insisted we talk things out here after she caught me napping outside her classroom. She might be taking things a wee bit too seriously?" The way she easily jumped towards using Yukinoshita's first name that easily, you'd think she crossed a bottomless chasm with nary a single thought. I'd say, "have a little more self-awareness," but it seems it was an integral part of her personality, so I held my tongue.

"Please get to the point, Meguri-senpai." Yukinoshita chided, sighing as she held her forehead up with her left hand, as if preventing an oncoming headache. For someone like you who gets to the point, the winding, digressing ramblings of Shiromeguri-senpai must be too much, huh?

"Ahhh, I might have made Yukino-chan angry!" Shiromeguri-senpai let out a mock squeal of horror. "Alright, alright! Truthfully, the reason I fell asleep outside Yukino-chan's classroom was that I was going to ask her a question, but I dozed off… you know how we upperclassmen are preparing for university entrance exams, right?"

That's right. Sobu High, in the first place, was a college preparatory school, so it's to be expected that its students are studying hard to get into university in the first place.

"Well… the truth is, I've been having difficulty studying. Usually, I spend my afternoons napping, and my evening studying, but after the recent round of mock exams my performance hasn't improved a lot… my dreams of getting into a good university are in peril…" Shiromeguri-senpai mock-sobbed, although even her pretending to be worried filled me with an overwhelming sense to just wrap my arms around her and comfort her.

"So!" She immediately recovered. "I was hoping the Service Club could give me advice!"

"W-woah… that was way too easy, the way she jumped from suuuper sad to happy…" Yuigahama, who had been dutifully following the conversation, let out a small yelp. She took out her phone and started fiddling with it. Isn't that kind of rude, Yuigahama…?

I raised my hand to ask a question.

"To put it mildly, you're asking us for ways to be able to improve your study habits, correct? Or maybe you want us to improve your test-taking skills."

"Either way is fine!" Shiromeguri-senpai chirped. "But really, all I want is to get my nap time back." She was giggling again, although this time it sounded more like Ebina's "guhehehehehehe" laugh. Oh god, that mental image.

"It seems like such a simple solution, Meguri-senpai." Yukinoshita, who had moved to her side of our table, began. "Simply spend more time studying, and your performance surely will increase as well."

Indeed, that was the most logical advice to be given. As expected of Yukinoshita.

"Furthermore, since we are underclassmen, we cannot offer to tutor Shiromeguri-senpai. However, we _can_ contribute tips and our own study habits for her sake. Perhaps her study habits need fixing as well." Yukinoshita offered. I could see Yuigahama shudder at the mention of "our own study habits." Of course, Yuigahama was not someone you asked for tips on studying. Her ability to retain knowledge was atrocious, after all, and her study habits worse, if our study session at Saize was any indication.

"But, um, Shirom- I mean, Meguri-senpai's problem wouldn't be, like, much of a problem if she can fix it just by being told "study hard!" right?" Yuigahama quickly followed up with.

"Yuigahama's right," I chimed in. "If telling a student the best way to increase his knowledge is simply to hit the books more, then how come not all students improve 100% overnight?" Indeed, just because you tell someone to work hard does not mean he'll produce satisfactory results. Hard work, after all, was not a guarantee of success. Hard work may not betray you, but it won't offer you magical victories either.

"You two may be right. The problem here may be one of motivation." Yukinoshita agreed, while Shiromeguri-senpai followed the conversation and nodded accordingly.

"Of course we're right," I fired back. "My source is my sister, Komachi. She's currently preparing for high school entrance exams herself, and she's been pushing herself way too hard for it." I can still imagine Komachi's delicate features being tainted by those dreaded eyes that haunted me throughout my middle school years. "She may not be the smartest student out there, but there's no lack of hard work in her bones. It's just that it's truly draining, both physically and mentally." Ah…! My poor, cute sister, overworked like this…!

"Somehow… your siscon tendencies seeped out there for a moment…gross, Hikki." Yuigahama whispered.

"Whatever! The point is, instead of telling Shiromeguri-senpai here," I avoided Shiromeguri-senpai's piercing looks as I ignored her request to refer to her with her first name, "to work hard and study hard, perhaps the advice we should give is how to replenish her lost motivation, so that she _can_ study harder."

"I see, I see~ So how do I do that, Hi-ki-ga-ya-kun~?" Shiromeguri-senpai intoned as her face zoomed in, uncomfortable close to mine. Personal space, Shiromeguri-senpai! Personal space!

"Hikki…"

"Hikigaya-kun…"

What can I do? I can't deny my upperclassman like this! Don't glare daggers at my side, dammit!

"W-well," I coughed out, causing Shiromeguri-senpai to retreat to a safe distance, "there are many ways to remedy that problem. In Shiromeguri-senpai's case, studying probably deprived her of valuable nap time, right?" I looked at Shiromeguri-senpai, who nodded in agreement. "In that case, the solution is obvious: you should be able to compensate for the nap time you've lost."

"And how do you propose Shiromeguri-senpai do that?" Yukinoshita asked.

"Simple. Since you've lost your afternoon nap time to studying, you seek out your nap time during school hours."

In terms of problem-solving, Yukinoshita's approach would be the brute force one – attempting to solve the problem head-on. The problem with this approach is that the solution may be one that the person himself is incapable of achieving, because of the sheer amount of effort involved. For someone like Yukinoshita, who fearlessly mowed down all opponents in her path, such a solution was the most obvious, and basic approach.

For worms like myself, however, who didn't have Yukinoshita's ability, intelligence, or drive to achieve whatever we wish for, our only recourse is deceit, trickery, and logic. For people like us, if confronted with an insurmountable wall, our solution isn't simply to scale the wall, no matter how high it is. As opposed to Yukinoshita, who would insist on working hard to overcome this obstacle, I would instead suggest we work _smart_.

Therefore, no dirty trick was outside our book. Bring in a bomb to blow a hall in the wall, dig underneath the wall, find a hidden door, make a ladder, invent a flying machine, discover the power of magic – anything as opposed to confronting the problem directly.

If Shiromeguri-senpai's problem is the lack of motivation preventing her from doing well in her studies, Yukinoshita's solution would be for her to insist on continuing studying, despite the lack of motivation. That's because for Yukinoshita, the drive to succeed is a motivation unto itself.

That isn't true for me, and I believe the same is true for Shiromeguri-senpai. Instead, my solution is to _restore_ her motivation, and the best way seems to be to give her back her nap time.

"Indeed, if you are lacking in sleep, then the solution is to get _more _sleep, correct? While humanity has not yet achieved the ability to slow down or control time, we can divide it more efficiently. For example, calling in sick so that you may sleep for a few more hours, or retreating to the infirmary to take a nap. Or perhaps finding yourself on the school rooftop to sleep. Do you know how refreshing it is up there? Another option is to nap during class. I myself have developed numerous techniques to get away with sleeping in class… my favorite is the one where I fall asleep while hunched over my textbook."

At some point at my ramblings I realized three pairs of eyes were looking at me. G-guys? What's with the weird stares?

"Um, Hikki, I don't think it's a good idea to suggest Shiromeguri-senpai to cut classes." Yuigahama offered in response to my questioning looks.

"It was a mistake to let you talk." Yukinoshita said to me. Even as she smiled at me warmly I still couldn't shake the feeling of unease. "Hikigaya-kun, while you may be content with such a solution, Shiromeguri-senpai actually pays attention to class, do you not?" She looked at Shiromeguri-senpai.

In response, the upperclassman looked at the two girls looking for her to shoot down my suggestion completely, but to my surprise she simply giggled. "Actually, I'm already doing all the things Hikigaya-kun has mentioned~! Truthfully, I enjoy napping at the school rooftop."

Scary! Truly scary! Was this our former student council president? She's starting to sound as irresponsible as Irohasu (Tobe voice)!

"I feel so disillusioned right now," Yuigahama groaned, as she adopted Yukinoshita's hand-to-forehead pose of exasperation.

"I had expected Meguri-senpai to be easygoing, but I never imagined it would be to such an extent." Yukinoshita sighed.

"I guess it's true what they say about never judging a book by its cover." I offered in consolation.

"Did I say something wrong?" Shiromeguri-senpai said, as she started laughing.

-0-

In the end, we were unable to arrive at a satisfactory solution. Instead, we asked Shiromeguri-senpai to return the next day, as Yukinoshita refused to let it go without concluding her request.

"So what do we do?" Yukinoshita began.

Before she left, Yukinoshita asked Shiromeguri-senpai what her weakest subjects were, for reference, and what university she was aiming to get into. According to her, Shiromeguri-senpai was aiming for a university focused on the sciences, and her humanities subjects were her weakest. Specifically, her English was beyond terrible, surpassing legendary levels of illiteracy not seen since Yukinoshita and I tutored Yuigahama before our major exams.

"Well, we can't tutor her." I replied. "Setting aside the fact that she's older than us, the problem here is one of attitude, since she clearly has the ability to study hard considering she got into this school in the first place." I looked at Yuigahama. "Unlike _some_ people here."

"Uuuuu, Hikki's teasing me again," Yuigahama whimpered. "It's not my fault, okay! I passed fair and square! I studied my ass off until I felt it would fall off!" She leaped from her hair and pumped her fist madly, like she had won an award. Also, um, please don't give me mental images about your ass. It's hard to concentrate around you already.

"It would be good if Shiromeguri-senpai had Yuigahama-san's energy here," Yukinoshita teased, "it would definitely take her to unimaginable places." She smiled and sipped her tea. Somehow, the way she says these things were far more effective than any emotion-filled statement, huh? Yuigahama simply went "uuuuuu…" and sat back, fiddling on her phone. No reply, Yuigahama?

"…Yukinon is mean." Yuigahama whispered, although I think Yukinoshita, who had gathered our cups for cleaning, didn't hear them. I assumed Yuigahama knew this already, but I guess it was just now dawning on her.

"Come on, Yuigahama, she was just joking." I told Yuigahama, trying to comfort her.

"I know, I know. It's just…" Yuigahama hesitated. "Even Shiromeguri-senpai's worrying about her future, huh?"

Come to think of it, I had never asked Yuigahama what her plans for the future were. During the career field trip, she had just gone along with the rest of the class, after all.

"Well, how about you, Yuigahama? What kind of university do you plan on getting into?"

"I don't know, Hikki." She frowned and rested her chin atop her folded arms. "I was just so happy getting into a school like this, but I actually don't have a lot of plans for the future, you know? I mean, sure, I can probably get into some low-rate university since I come from here, but, ah, looking at you two and Shiromeguri-senpai, you guys seem to be aiming for higher stuff, right?"

"It's only natural." Yukinoshita replied, as she walked over to the table again. "After all, our school is a preparatory school for colleges. Even you must think of aiming higher. Otherwise, it's a waste of your education." Yuigahama's eyes tightened and zoomed on Yuigahama. "We may just be second-years, but we mustn't be complacent, after all. Our choice of university will dictate much of our life. Even someone as easygoing as you should worry about your career."

I don't agree with that sentiment, and Hiratsuka-sensei's told me as much, but there's no denying that this was an important decision and not something you could take lightly.

In other words, Yuigahama's behavior was unacceptable. Really, why did you go to this school in the first place?

Yuigahama could only groan in response and buried her head in her forearms.

Yukinoshita, seemingly sensing Yuigahama's unease, put on a troubled look. She moved her hands towards Yuigahama's direction, as if to wrap her arms around the other girl and comfort her, but immediately retracted when she realized I was looking at her. She placed her hands on the table and looked at her feet, unsure of what to do or say.

Instead, Yuigahama slowly rose from her seat and took her bag.

"Sorry, Yukinon, Hikki. I need some time to think, and errands to run. I'll have to leave early."

Yukinoshita was unable to reply as Yuigahama, zombie-like, shambled her way outside. When Yuigahama shut the door behind her, I imagined it sounded rougher than it did. In reality, she had closed the door gently.

Unable to bear the silence that Yuigahama's exit caused, I tried to focus on my book, but was unable to immerse myself in my novel. Looking up, I realized that Yukinoshita was staring at me, her body trembling slightly, as if she was overcome with some sensation.

I met her gaze with my own. The cool February winds caused by Yuigahama's exit circulated through the room, sending shivers throughout my body. And yet, I didn't think the cool weather was the primary cause of this cold sensation that was building up within me. In this room, warmed by the scent of tea, there was an important component missing. Or rather, something that disappeared and left.

She looked at me, her eyes hinting at her vulnerability – I could read it all in my head: _I don't know what to do_.

Yukinoshita, after all, has never had to hold back her words. That was how it was when she first met Yuigahama, and Yuigahama had taken it all in stride when Yukinoshita let out harsh words aimed at her.

Yuigahama had claimed that this part of Yukino was something she admired, but it was obvious that it still hurt whenever Yukinoshita cut loose and unleashed her true thoughts on the matter.

No matter what kind of reserved, experienced loner you are, harsh words have an effect on you.

No matter how much you claim to be unhurt, being ostracized by your peers hurts.

So was Yukinoshita and I guilty of ostracizing Yuigahama?

No matter how much you cut it, Yuigahama Yui was simply not someone who was as capable the same way Yukinoshita Yukino was. In terms of common points, there existed absolutely none between Yuigahama Yui and Yukinoshita Yukino.

And yet, and yet Yuigahama insisted on remaining in this club, insisted on trying to talk to Yukinoshita, insisted on trying to keep up with our conversations even as we incessantly made fun of her shortcomings, and insisted on helping out with the Service Club's activities with absolutely no reward on her part. Yukinoshita had her _noblesse oblige_ and I had my own version of pride at stake in our little contest, but Yuigahama had no personal reason to try and do club activities to win Hiratsuka-sensei's little "bet".

In other words, there was _no logical reason for Yuigahama to be here_.

Any normal person would be fed up of it and just snap one day.

"What, what did I say wrong?" Yukinoshita finally managed to blurt out. Her lips curled in anger, and I realized that she was biting her lip. From beneath the table I could imagine her clutching at the hems of her skirt, trying to hold back her frustration.

"You didn't say anything out of the ordinary," I replied.

"Obviously, I said something wrong. For Yuigahama-san to reply like that." She fired back.

"I think it isn't a matter of what you said wrong, but a culmination of things you've said before."

"_You?_ I would think you are as guilty as I am of this, Hikigaya-kun." She closed her eyes, scowled and let out an irritated sigh as she turned away from me.

_Why are you dragging me into this? _I wanted to reply. "Things are different now, I suppose." After all, we still don't know the boundaries of our relationships.

"…I suppose you're right." Yukinoshita conceded. She opened her eyes, displaying water, wavering pupils. "I had assumed… I believed Yuigahama would understand what I was saying."

_That was our mistake_, I wanted to say out loud. But saying that right now to Yukinoshita was useless.

"I had told you we were fulfilling your request, but it seems we have much to do before we can properly say we've granted it," Yukinoshita continued, a pained smile on her face. "If Yuigahama-san and I cannot even talk to each other properly. I've been blind to that fact. All this time, all I've heard from you two is that I can depend on the two of you, and all I've done is take advantage of your kindness."

_It's something much more horrible_, the elder Yukinoshita had warned.

"It's, not like you're taking advantage of Yuigahama or something." I replied. "But you tend to get in over your head and take things you can't handle on your own. You can't blame Yuigahama for wanting to help you out."

"Why are you leaving yourself out…? You've done just as much."

"No. All I've done is satisfy my own ego."

"Hikigaya-kun…"

"The important thing is, if you truly feel this way, why haven't you done anything?" I asked Yukinoshita. "More importantly, why are you telling _me_ this? You should be talking to Yuigahama, not me."

I wasn't the one Yukinoshita should be directing her feelings to.

Yuigahama craved her acceptance the most, hungered for the rare displays of affection that Yukinoshita doled out carefully and unwittingly. Even Yukinoshita, as inept as she is with dealing with other people, should have realized this.

"I… I don't know how to talk to her." Yukinoshita almost wailed out, her voice rising in pitch. "I don't know how to talk to most people." She was beginning to breathe faster now. "I don't know how to deal with Yuigahama."

She was gritting her teeth now. "I feel so powerless, knowing this. That I am so clueless when it comes to these things. She knows more about these things than I do, and I had always depended on her to teach me what to do, or straighten things out when I cannot deal with other people. Like with Miura-san in camp. Or during the Christmas event. "

Many things happened during that Christmas event.

"I've depended on Yuigahama-san too much."

She stopped, looked down at her skirt, and trembled. She was breathing heavily now, her shoulders rising up and down rapidly in exhaustion. In her state, I could imagine a dam about to burst. Her effort in keeping herself composed was heroic, even as trickles of emotion struggled to escape from her heart.

At the core of her outburst was a basic, primal statement.

_I don't know. I don't know. I don't know_.

She was struggling not to scream out the words, but I could hear them through her speech.

I felt coldness envelop my body.

"Yukinoshita." I started. "I'm not the one you should be telling this."

I shouldn't be hearing this from her. Her emotions should not be directed at me.

"You should be talking to Yuigahama."

Yukinoshita, who seemed to be on the verge of tears, looked at me. Her face was one of confusion, as if I had said something stupid.

"Hikigaya-kun…why do you insist on saying that…?"

"I don't know what you mean. All I know is that you should be talking to Yuigahama about your feelings, not me. She deserves as much. If you feel like you wronged her, you should apologize."

As if in a daze, Yukinoshita continued gazing at me. I didn't know if she was staring through me to process my words, or if I was such a non-entity that she was using me to rest her eyes and her thoughts while she planned her next move, but it made me feel uncomfortable.

After a minute or so, Yukinoshita opened her lips, and uttered something I could never forget, even in 12000 years[3].

"Hikigaya-kun… will you go out with me?"

-0-

A/N: Ok, so this arc isn't finished until next chapter. And it might be a wee bit heavy on the drama, when I promised fluff. Sorry! Things should be ok by the next chapter, and the next arc _should _be fluffy as all hell, since it involves Iroha, Komachi, and Saki. I already have a plot planned out and everything, and even a title: My little sister **Hikigaya Komachi **worries about love, too. Just think of it as compensation since the anime cut out Taishi from the twitter plan.

So, what does everyone think about the current anime adaptation? How about the story so far? Oh, and a challenge: if you can guess what the main pairing of this story is (and a majority of future oregairu fanfics I write), then I'll immediately write a oneshot oregairu story of your choosing. Your scenario, your characters, no matter how OOC, and I'll make it work.

Leave a review!

* * *

[1] A staple of _Mobile Suit Gundam _and its sequels

[2] EBchecked/topic/239059/Gordian-knot

[3] Genesis of Aquarion. See the opening: watch?v=PopnJe2u1Og

"All these 12000 years…"


	4. Hachiman and Meguri

A/N: Alright, time to finish this. I _really_ want to work on that Komachi/Iroha/Saki arc already. That isn't to say I'm not having fun doing this, but I have a ton of ideas I want to do already. By the way, I took Hachiman's Chiba rant from Wikipedia. Really fitting that all of Hachiman's knowledge comes from browsing Wikipedia, really.

I'm also surprised no one bothered to mention I'm reusing a scene from the early novels, which also involved Yui drifting apart from the Service Club. This time, it's Yukino's fault, though.

I kinda miss when Yukino would just randomly declare herself a beautiful, cute angel that receives a lot of love confessions and turns them all down. I mean yeah, it's because she's grown close to these people already and is careful about her words now, but still.

Anyway, let's go!

Story 2.3: Truthfully, **Shiromeguri Meguri **just wants to sleep

Let me tell you about Chiba City.

Chiba City is one of the Kantō region's primary seaports, and is home to Chiba Port, which handles one of the highest volumes of cargo in the nation_._ Much of the city is residential, although there are many factories and warehouses along the coast. There are several major urban centers in the city, including Makuhari, a prime waterfront business district in which Makuhari Messe is located, and Central Chiba, in which the prefectural government office and the city hall are located.

Incidentally, Yukinoshita Yukino lives in the business district. Fitting for a well-off heiress, really. But that's not what we're concerned about at the moment.

Chiba's famous for many things, such as the Chiba Urban Monorail or the Chiba City Zoological Park, but for regular people, what comes to mind are silly things such as shopping malls or amusement parks. Which strikes me as odd – why would you choose to glorify any dime-a-dozen amusement park or shopping mall, when you have the longest suspended monorail in the world?

This isn't to say I despise shopping malls or amusement parks. There are great amusement parks in Chiba Prefecture, such as Tokyo Disneyland, although I much prefer Destinyland since it's a less crowded place. Compared to malls, which are everywhere, it's harder to get to an amusement park, after all. Come to think of it, Destinyland itself is pretty much on par with the Chiba Urban Monorail, isn't it?

In retrospect, dismissing amusement parks as being on the same level as shopping malls was hasty. Destinyland boasts a number of interesting rides and attractions, even for a loner like myself. Off the top of my head, I can name, uh, the Pan-san ride and shop?

_Come to think of it, why the heck am I thinking of Pan-san at a time like this? Is it because she-_

"Hikigaya-kun. Did you hear what I said?"

Her voice was a blast of fresh winter air. The warmth of this room, produced by a tiny heater off the corner, was no match for her soothing lips, releasing wisps of cold air that seemed more like snow spirits than oxygen being released from her lungs. It felt as if no matter how much warm tea I drank, I would be submerged in her cold words; her voice and its eternal chill would haunt my heart for the rest of my life.

"…you're not making fun of me, right?" I managed to squeak out, after what felt like an eternity. It sounded like a small voice emerging from the chaos of a snowstorm.

She averted her eyes from me and bit her lips. "No. What makes you think that?"

I could almost imagine her gripping her skirt again.

"This feels like it's happened before. You asked me to go shopping with you before, right?"

Yeah, that's right. The last time Yukinoshita asked me this, it was because she wanted to buy Yuigahama a birthday present. Truthfully, part of the reason she sought to give her a birthday present in the first place was to get her to rejoin the Service Club, because of many circumstances that caused things to be awkward between us.

In many ways, many of these reasons were my fault.

"That's," Yukinoshita started to say, before stopping herself. For a moment, it looked as if she was ready to argue with me, but she prevented herself at the last moment.

"I can't bring Komachi with me this time, though." I continued. "Like I said, she's busy with her exams. And I know you'd want her help if you want to talk to Yuigahama and apologize."

"That…that may be part of it." Yukinoshita finally managed to blurt out, after a moment's hesitation. "But, that is, this isn't just the reason…"

"I can't pretend to know what you're thinking." I fired back. "But I don't plan on forcing you to talk about things you're uncomfortable with. All I'm asking is you take me seriously."

Yukinoshita looked down at the hem of her skirt, her fringes covering her eyes. Her shoulders were trembling, and I was unsure if it was because she was laughing at my responses or something else altogether. She was breathing slowly, taking measured gasps of air, and all I could do was watch helplessly as she continuously took in air, her lithe body rising and falling in time with her breathing.

"…this is difficult for me too, Hikigaya-kun."

"…what's that? I couldn't quite hear you."

Yukinoshita Yukino was someone who, at inconvenient times, was incapable of talking properly, and instead resorted to barely comprehensible whispers. It was the same for Destinyland, too.

In fact, most of our conversations turned out like this. Whether it was between Yukinoshita and me, or Yuigahama or me, or Yuigahama and Yukinoshita.

How many times have we uttered stuttering, halted phrases whose meanings we could only guess at?

How long can we subsist on snatches of stolen conversations and unfinished declarations?

"I may talk confidently of solving your request, but I'm too far away from you or Yuigahama to understand anything." Yukinoshita uttered. "My words are useless, too. They failed to reach either you or her."

Words, by their very nature, are fundamentally meaningless. No matter how hard you try to express your feelings towards another person, no matter how hard you try to send across your meanings towards him, the possibility of the transmission being garbled is high. For one, one's own value system and lexicon is fundamentally different from one person to another. Words, too, hold numerous different meanings for different people.

How can we ever know what truly runs in the mind of another person? Simply saying that talking things out will solve everything is naïve. For one, you can never truly know what runs in the mind of the person you're talking to, even if he claims to be open with his words. The fact of the matter is that words themselves are prone to reinterpretations and misinterpretations. Even if you wrap up all your emotions in beautiful poetry and give it to a person, the chance of him reading it incorrectly is high. Or is the idea of reading the other person's meaning "incorrectly" a fallacy in the first place?

So, what is the end result of all this? Are we to conclude that conversation is useless?

––you guys are overthinking it a little…you know?

But Yuigahama said that.

––If you're unsure of what your words mean, you spend a lot of time thinking about it.

What she was suggesting was utterly absurd, utterly naïve.

It would take more hard work than ever exerted in the history of mankind to do what you're suggesting, Yuigahama.

This is more work than the work put into getting the first man on the moon. This would require more corpses, more mistakes, more tears than is humanly possible.

In the history of humanity, has anyone ever truly understood someone else?

I don't know the answer to that question, but Yuigahama sidestepped the issue and suggested, in her naivety, that things will work out if we just keep trying to talk to each other.

How many mistakes will we make on the way? How many misunderstood questions, how many hearts will we hurt, how many misunderstandings will we generate along the way? Is it all worth it, all this pain and suffering, just so we can say we truly understand one another? Was all this hard work worth it?

But, wasn't that what I requested from the two of them? Didn't I admit that I felt bad when hard work went unrewarded?

I looked at Yukinoshita, whose lips were curled in disgust. Whether it be at myself or her own weakness, I do not know. She remained sitting there, silent, awaiting my final judgment.

"I guess… conversations are like a game of cat-and-mouse. Like one of those cartoons where the cat keeps trying to catch the mouse, with no end in sight." I began.

Yukinoshita, in response, looked at me haltingly. Her eyes wavered at my sight, and seemed remarkably fluid, like a puddle of snow melting.

"But…the thing that defines this endless cat-and-mouse game isn't the lack of a proper end, but the fact that they keep trying every day."

That was Yuigahama's answer, not mine. Until now I'm not sure if it makes any sense, logically.

But I knew that I couldn't deny Yuigahama's pure, simple wish.

Yukinoshita remained quiet, trying to parse my words. I don't blame her – what I was saying made no sense at all. Finally, with a herculean effort, she opened her lips once more, which had now curled into a warm smile.

"I think I understand, Hikigaya-kun."

It was like staring at the sun[1] after a long bout of winter.

"Also… I'm not joking, Hikigaya-kun. Go out with me." Yukinoshita followed up. "It's true that I want to go search for Yuigahama and apologize. But, um…" Yukinoshita's cheeks turned faint red. "It feels like I haven't spent any time with you outside this clubroom for the longest time."

My heart was frozen in place.

"That's…that's not true. We see each other outside the clubroom, right?" I quickly replied, trying to pass it off as a joke.

"You know what I mean, Hikigaya-kun." Yukinoshita shot back. "The last time we've talked like this, just the two of us… was at the infirmary. And before that, Destinyland."

I still remember the warmth of that infirmary, the soothing comfort of a silent, unsullied sanctuary that only contained three souls. Hiratsuka-sensei once called it an enclosed happiness, to be happy at not being understood by others. Were my memories of that day an enclosed happiness, too?

"I…want us to go further than this." Yukinoshita continued. "You, me, and Yuigahama. We can't go on being shackled by the constraints of the Service Club."

At last, Yukinoshita pronounces those words that remained unsaid from that cold, torturous winter.

"If you had told us about this during the Student Council Elections, things would have been better," I managed to stammer out. Many mistakes were made, many tears were shed. But it led to that scene in the clubroom, that one moment of warmth. I may have torn my heart apart and laid it upon the altar of the Service Club for them to peruse, for them to mock freely as they wished, but surely it led to something worthwhile, right?

"Perhaps… but I think the three of us were too superficial back then. It's as you had said – words are easy to misunderstand. I don't think my desires would have ever succeeded, the way I envisioned them to be. Even so… I promised to fulfill your request, so I must do the best I can."

Yukinoshita looked away. "…and we can't keep ostracizing Yuigahama. This room isn't complete without her."

My eyes widened at her remark, but held my tongue. Yeah, Yukinoshita felt this much towards Yuigahama, huh? Like a secret garden, blooming with Azaleas[2], unsullied by the vision of mortal men. What the two of them had, in this room, was something akin to that ever-distant Utopia. [3]

"…and, I want to emphasize that you are part of this as well." Yukinoshita continued. "I hate how you affirm your own weaknesses, but not your strengths."

"That's just who I am." I replied.

"Obviously. And this is who _I _am." Yukinoshita countered. "I will drill it into your head until you've changed for the better."

She smiled at me again, melting my frozen heart in the rays of her sun-like visage.

"The two of you have done so much for me, and I wish to repay that favor." She concluded, closing her eyes as she smiled dreamily. Like this, Yukinoshita looked more like a regular teenage girl than an unapproachable Ice Queen. With a smile like this, how could Yukinoshita have turned out the way she was?

"Heh. If you could smile like that towards other people, you wouldn't be friendless." I say to her. I didn't mean to, but it slipped out.

"You seem to be misunderstanding things, Hikigaya-kun." Yukinoshita immediately retracted her smile and looked at me with a serious face. "I am not 'friendless'. I simply choose not to declare anyone who interacts with me a friend. After all, it devalues the meaning of the word."

"That's just sophistry from someone who has no friends. Source: me."

"Unlike you, I have the capability of befriending people. I choose simply not to practice it. Most people aren't worth my time, after all. I am told I am too beautiful for most people to handle. Source: me."

"Hey, hey, isn't that being too arrogant? People get turned off by arrogant people who declare their own cuteness. It's like overly self-aware people who pepper their sentences with difficult words to sound smart."

"Is that a jab at me, Hikigaya-kun?"

"No, I'm just speaking hypothetically. I'm not referring to anyone in general, especially not some Ice Queen obsessed with cats and Pan-san."

"It's not an obsession…!"

We spent a few minutes like this, talking back and forth, our voices filling the clubroom with something resembling human warmth. How long ago was it that we would have dismissed these words as superficial?

In the end, we decided to follow after Yuigahama. Thankfully, she responded when Yukino called her. _Speaking of, did I even have Yukinoshita's number?_ I decided not to ask – we had more important matters to attend to.

"She's at a supermarket, shopping for her family's dinner tonight." She said, after concluding her call. "It's at a nearby shopping center. If we get a taxi, we can chase after her." She immediately began cleaning up the tea set, but I grabbed her arms to stop her.

"Go tell Hiratsuka-sensei we're in a hurry and leave the key for her to lock up. I'll clean the room."

Yukinoshita froze for a moment. Um, why are you staring at me like that?

"Hikigaya-kun…your hand."

U-um, you didn't have to act like that, Yukino-chan, j-jeez, you're making me self-conscious here! I withdrew my hand from her arms and stepped away, scratching my nose. I wasn't totally embarrassed, nope.

"Y-yeah. Go ahead. I'll handle things here."

Yukinoshita nodded, and dashed away. Hey, is it really a good idea to run, considering your stamina?

As she dashed outside the door, I picked up the teacups and the kettle, intending to wash them in the sink outside the room. As I stepped outside the room, I saw a blur of black hair disappear around the corner. Was that Yukino? Not that it really matters, but it took me a bit of time to gather everything. If Yukino was rushing towards the teacher's lounge, who was it?

Well, no matter. Time was of the essence.

I turned off the heater and allowed the cold air to enter our sanctuary once again.

-0-

Hailing a cab wasn't difficult - it was hard ignoring someone like Yukinoshita frantically flagging down any taxi in sight - and soon we had arrived at the shopping center where Yuigahama ostensibly was. I made a move to pay the fare, but Yukinoshita darted her hands against my arm and pinned them in place.

"I'll pay for it."

I offered no resistance. In the first place, despite all my posturing, I had very little money on me, and logically speaking Yukinoshita was the best choice to shoulder this bill. Still, I had made the move to pay initially, in accordance with social customs and what were expected of male-female social interaction. Um, doesn't that make me sound like I've been tamed by the system?

"I fully expect you to pay me back next time."

She was beaming at me, even if beneath her angelic smile was a sly sentiment: _you owe me_. Scary, Yukinoshita, scary! Isshiki's got no chance against you if we compare scary smiles, you knoooooow?

"There's a next time...?"

"Of course. You haven't said no, right?"

I swallowed back my words. Yeah, I didn't tell her no. But, it also wasn't a sign of assent, but one of confusion - what was I to make of Yukinoshita's request? Go out with her? As what? What did she want, what did she expect out of me? In the first place, how does one tell Yukinoshita Yukino "no, I do not want to go out with you"? Only a complete idiot would misread her words and jump to the wrong conclusions.

In other words, Yukinoshita wanted us to 'hang out', wasn't it? As someone who wasn't used to having people to interact with, Yukinoshita probably had no idea what the etiquette was when telling acquaintances that they want to meet up and spend some time together. Her poorly chosen words, similar to that of a love confession, were simply the mistake of an inexperienced loner practicing clumsy words she had never used personally before. Tricky, tricky. Indeed, Yukinoshita was someone who was unskilled at the art of social interaction and was awkward with her words. As someone in the same boat, I was obligated to understand her words correctly and interpret it in a fashion agreeable to the two of us. That was how it was the first time as well, wasn't it? Jeez, Yukinoshita, why can't you pick your words better? You'll create needless misunderstandings, you know?

"That's how it is... Yukinoshita, you should really pick your words better. If you're requesting my help in figuring out how to interact with Yuigahama normally, then you should have said so in the first place. There's no need to include ridiculously cliche phrases like "will you go out with me" or some nonsense. In the first place, saying that to Yuigahama will generate terrible misunderstandings." Not to mention thoughts that have no place in my brain.

"Hikigaya-kun..." Yukinoshita was looking at me, dumbfounded. Uh, am I rambling?

"In any case, I suppose I can treat this as a formal request from your side. Uh, I'm going to accept, of course, but give me some time to plan out how to solve your request, okay?"

Yukinoshita, who was holding her schoolbag in one hand and her wallet in another, stared at me like I was some alien who had recently descended upon the earth. I could almost picture the scenario: I emerge from my spaceship, scream "I come in peace!" and await as the backward inhabitants of this saltwater planet gave me the royal welcome. Except, the emissary, Yukinoshita, was incapable of deciphering my language, leading to many misunderstandings, enough to fill a 2-hour movie, complete with explosions and astounding CGI effects. Wait, why did I start writing a movie proposal there?

She lifted her hands, which were clutching her wallet, and covered her mouth with it. To my surprise, she began giggling - demurely at first, but she was soon overcome with laughter and turned away, purring madly as laughing fits overtook her body. From my viewpoint all I could see were her neck and shoulders shaking as she resisted the urge to let loose a howl of laughter in the middle of the street. Yukinoshita, were you actually making fun of me?

Finally, she had ceased giggling and straightened herself. She regained her stoic face, although her cheeks were tinged faintly with red.

"Well, let's leave it like that, if you want to think about it that way." Yukinoshita said. "I'll be looking forward to you solving my 'request' then."

So at least we had finally straightened that misunderstanding out. It was a simple matter, really: I was supposed to take Yukinoshita out somewhere, simulating the activities that acquaintances do when they're together during the weekends or vacations.

Although, and this is strictly hypothetical, wasn't this similar to another irresponsible promise I owed a certain other girl?

Wasn't there something I had uttered during the Cultural Festival, to a certain other girl, to the same effect? What had I done to fulfill that certain other girl's request? We had kept alluding to it through all these months, but circumstances got in the way and we kept putting it off.

In the intervening months, I had been dragged unwillingly by an underclassman to go wherever she pleased, and now I was making the same promises with that certain other girl's closest acquaintance and possibly her best friend.

Just what did that make me, I wonder, to utter these irresponsible promises?

"...yeah. We have to find Yuigahama." I said to nobody in particular. "We have to do right by her."

That's right. I still owed her something, didn't I? We can't lose her, at least not until I've managed to clear up all my debts to her. The two of us owe her at least that much.

Yukinoshita nodded and started walking towards the interior of the mall. Specifically, the pet section. Even more specifically, the stores that had cats and accessories for them. Yukinoshita-chan? This isn't the time for you to space out and go "nyaaa..." on a bunch of cats, you know?

"Sheesh, if you really like cats that much, why not just adopt one?" I ask.

"Pets aren't allowed in our apartments. Truly a despicable rule, but one I must abide by." Yukinoshita immediately replied. "I find it questionable that pets are to be barred from an apartment complex that aims to simulate as closely as possible the environment of a happy, fulfilled community, and yet deny us the pleasure of feli- animal company." The speed of her delivery, and the alarmingly cogent logical arguments she was making implied she already had it all these things in mind before I even asked, and had anticipated arguments and counter-arguments about it. Yeah, Yukinoshita worried about the most important things, right?

"Aren't we supposed to look for Yuigahama, though?"

"There is no need to worry. I have already asked Yuigahama-san to meet with us here."

"So this is why you gravitated towards this shop?"

"Correct."

Yukinoshita, can you _not_ answer in that "it's perfectly logical" tone while your actions make it perfectly clear you just want to pet that poor cat? Well, at least the cat doesn't seem to mind.

I looked around at the mass of people and recognized no one, although walking off to the side was a student wearing our uniform. When she looked at me, she quickly darted off to the side. What is it? Was my face that scary?

"Hikigaya-kun, is Yuigahama there already?"

"Uh, no. She has errands to run, you know?"

"Good… I need more time." She let out a sigh.

"What do you mean?" I blurted out to no one in particular, as I blew out wisps of air from my lungs and buried my hands in the pocket of my coat jacket. The pet shop here was deserted at this time, so there was only me and Yukinoshita. I didn't have an interest playing with cats or getting accessories for my pet, Kamakura, so I was content to just stand by the sidelines.

Yukinoshita said nothing in return, but instead focused on caressing the cat that was on display.

"Yukinoshita? Do you have a plan?"

Still no reply. I guess I had to take drastic measures.

"Yukinon~!"

Ugh. That was the most terrible Yuigahama impression I had ever said out loud. Probably even worse than my Irohasu (Tobe voice) or my Megurin~ (falsetto voice). No kind of moron would ever fall for it. All right, let's change ta-

"Y-Y-Y-Y-Yuigahama-san? I, ah, this is, well, my message… Hikigaya-kun has something to say to you, please, Hikigaya-kun, eliminate this misunderstanding post-haste, I will be off to the side examining other accessories. Well then, see you later, Yuigahama-san."

My ears (and I think my ahoge[4] did, as well) twitched as Yukinoshita let out a small yelp of surprise, before launching into a perfectly controlled tirade that swiftly covered for her surprise and accounted for my presence next to her, before shifting all of the responsibility of explaining matters to me. Truly, a wonderful performance, Yukinoshita. Perfect marks. I couldn't have trained you better myself.

Wait, but, I haven't trained you at all, haven't I?! Where did you learn these things?! And where do you think you're going?! Come back here, you sly cat!

On instinct, I grabbed her left arm, the same way I would grab Komachi's when she starts becoming antsy and runs around the house like she had swallowed an entire kilo of sugar. Speaking of, isn't that insanely unhealthy? Wouldn't you suffer from a heart attack if you swallow a kilo of sugar? Why am I thinking of these things when there are more important matters to consider, like Yukinoshita's arms firmly in my grasp?

"Yukinoshita. Where do you think you're going?" I say, with a little irritation.

"Hikigaya-kun, I believe you can resolve the situation better than I do," Yukinoshita proudly proclaims. I can read the subtitles in our words more clearly now:

"You can do it, Hikigaya-kun."  
_Please, do this for me. I can't do it myself_.

"You know Yuigahama more than I do. She likes you more."  
_I don't have the right to interfere in your relationship with her._

"I… it is not as simple as you think it is."  
_I'm scared_.

"Hikigaya-kun…please. I trust you can do it." She looks at me with a cold, wavering gaze, like a little child seeking guidance.

_You can't really call that trust, can you? _That creature of self-reliance had asked me.

Do I dare finish reading to the end of that page?

I let out a deep sigh. "This isn't a matter of trust or capability. _You_ wanted to do this. You can't just chicken out now that you're here and let me handle things. Isn't that the ideal of the Service Club? "Teach a man to fish" and all that. Don't tell me I'm better at enacting your own ideal than yours."

This was, without the doubt, the absolute worst way to push Yukinoshita. I had no reason to antagonize her, or to push her with these methods. If I could just find the right words, I could convince her to talk to Yuigahama on her own. I wasn't the same person who antagonized Sagami - Yukinoshita would undoubtedly listen to me. After all, she had something worse than trust for me. Isn't that right, Haruno-san? Right now, all I was doing was engaging her competitive nature to spur her to action. In that sense, her actions from this point on are a result of my words and my urging.

So, I was the one dictating to Yukinoshita what to do.

However, and this is a hypothetical question: what did the man who first reached the moon think when he first stepped on its surface? Did he consider the possibility that the bridge between the Earth and the Moon was built from the innumerable corpses of men, women, and animals that sacrificed their lives for this cause? When confronted with this fact, wouldn't he break down from the immense sin weighing down his back?

If that's the case, then isn't that great man's achievement really the achievement of all the hard working people who laid down their lives for him? Was he truly just a lucky person to survive long enough to reach the moon? Doesn't that discount his own effort, his own sweat, blood, and tears?

If so, and this is purely hypothetical, shouldn't that man believe his success is the result of his own hard work and effort, not that of other people? Even if he walked over innumerable corpses on the way, can he not raise his head up high proclaim "I have successfully done it"?

Was this denying reality? I don't think so. In my hypothetical scenario, the man is aware of the sacrifices done for his sake still. If we are to use another example, take "teach a man to fish". Does it truly teach self-independence? Doesn't the man who learned how to fish still rely on a teacher to become self-independent? In a sense, the teacher still caught the fish for him, by giving him the skills to catch the fish.

But, could you honestly say that the teacher is the only one responsible for him catching the fish? What about the effort of the student?

If so, is it wrong to believe that your success was reliant on your own power alone, if you acknowledge the existence of the people behind you who made it possible in the first place?

And so, the provocation. _Is this something worse than trust, I wonder? _

Yukinoshita looked at me, dumbfounded that I would throw her words at her. For a moment she adopted those steely, confrontational looks she wore whenever she was challenged. I mentally prepared myself for a retort that never returned.

"Is… is that so? Are you challenging me, Hikigaya-kun?"

"Eh, I wonder, I just think you're being too careless with your own rules, Yukino-chan~!" I teasingly spat out, in a sing-song voice. Truly, my experience dealing with being mercilessly teased in my childhood was paying off.

"Very well, Hikigaya-kun. I am loathe to admit it, but your cheap provocations are urging me on. I _will_ do this on my own."

_Mission accomplished_.

I started distancing myself away from Yukinoshita, who had adopted a more confident stance, as I saw Yuigahama running away from afar. I walked outside the pet shop and made a beeline for some far-away corner where a loner like me belonged. Realizing that time was of the essence, I walked faster to avoid Yuigahama seeing me. Knowing Yukinoshita, she wouldn't bring up my presence to Yuigahama until she had finished apologizing. I leaned against a pillar and looked at the two distant figures conversing. One was wildly gesticulating and flailing her arms, a plastic bag of groceries at her feet. The other was standing still, her arms wrapped around her chest, speaking methodically. It was a comforting thought: the two of them looked perfect together. Like a pair of good friends.

That's good. I didn't need to be here. This was none of my business, after all. There's probably a good café for me to waste my time, or I could go ho-

"My, it's Hikigaya-kun~? What a coincidence, hee hee."

Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that Shiromeguri-senpai? No way! You totally caught me off-guard there, Senpai? What kind of magical power did you use to teleport here, I wondeeeeeeeer? (Irohasu voice) I turned around and saw Shiromeguri-senpai, still in her school uniform, gesturing at me. I approached the upperclassman and greeted her.

"What are you doing here, Shiromeguri-senpai?"

"You don't have to be so bashful, I know you noticed me following you around." Shiromeguri-senpai inched herself slowly onto my personal space. Somehow, even my body was getting Meguri'd…!

"That isn't what's important! What are you doing here?" I quickly backed off, although I lowered my voice to ensure Yuigahama and Yukinoshita, who were probably still within earshot even if I had turned a corner to avoid them, wouldn't hear our conversation.

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeell," Shiromeguri-senpai continued, placing her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest like a proud kindergarten student bragging about her achievements. "I'm here to see how my cute juniors are doing!"

Really, is that it? Good grief. [5]

"Well, no matter. I've done my job." And then she unleashed a smile that bordered on Iroha's.

What…?

In that moment, I heard Yuigahama's shrill voice calling out to me: "Hikki…!"

I turned around and saw Yuigahama and Yukinoshita running, or to put it more accurately, walking briskly towards me. Yuigahama was carrying that plastic bag, presumably filled with groceries, although Yukinoshita was carrying a small paper bag with her as well. Uh, did she end up actually buying something after all?

"That was fast." I lamely blurted out. Yuigaham was grasping Yukinoshita's left arm with her right, grinning broadly, like she had just won the lottery. Yukinoshita had a face that said "…too close", but it was also intermingled with her happy expression. Maaaan, Yukinoshita, can't you just be honest about what you feel already? Just tell her already!

"We'll tell you all about it later! Come on! Yukinon said she'll treat us to Saize! Let's grab dinner, Hikki!"

"I said no such thing, though, Yuigahama-san."

"You implied as much! Implied! You always tell me to read between the lines, so I did, so when you said you were willing to take responsibility, I _knew_ you meant you were willing to repay me back for going hungry just to fulfill Shiromeguri-senpai's club request!"

Club request? What in the world was Yuigahama talking about?

"Come oooooooooon! Let's get dinner! Saize! Or maybe just a McDonald's? I'm hungry! And Yukino telling me to meet up with her got me excited!"

Somehow, Yuigahama's energy got us all excited, dragging us all the way to the nearby Saize. I was about to ask about Shiromeguri-senpai, but she had already disappeared.

-0-

If you think about it, life was nothing more than a series of misunderstandings.

Sometimes, we blow things out of proportion and assume the worst possible scenario. Once again, the treachery of words.

As it turns out, Yuigahama was really concerned about Shiromeguri's club request. She remembered our talk earlier that afternoon about audiobooks, and remembered all those convenient "learn how to speak English" CDs some students listened to while they slept. I was skeptical about their effectiveness, but you can't deny that it's a solution that could satisfy Shiromeguri-senpai's request.

As for her running errands? That was true, although she immediately dropped everything when Yukinoshita asked to meet with her. Isn't that irresponsible, Yuigahama?

So right now, I was walking towards the clubroom to meet with Yuigahama, Yukinoshita, and Shiromeguri-senpai. I normally wouldn't, seeing as it was lunchtime and I preferred my usual loner spot, but Yuigahama had insisted we had over the CDs to her personally. Well, I couldn't say no after everything we had talked about, right?

Descending down the stairs, I saw a flash of black hair disappear around the corner.

I immediately called out to Shiromeguri-senpai.

"If that was your goal all along, you didn't have to do such a roundabout thing in the first place."

I continued walking and turned around the corner, and knew my guess was right: Shiromeguri-senpai froze in place. "Yukinoshita might have remembered that you've already got your recommendations for the school you want to get in. The exams don't really matter, right? I remember you saying that."

That was when Shiromeguri-senpai had initially approached us with Iroha's first request, to prevent her from losing disgracefully as the lone nominee as student council president.

In short, Shiromeguri-senpai was worried about us, huh?

"…seriously, that was way too risky."

Shiromeguri-senpai turned around put her fingers under her chin and adopted a thinking pose. I could almost see the gears in her head turning, moved by adorable magical girls. Wait, do they get paid to do that? Somehow I'm imagining the implications, and they don't sound magical at all…!

"Jeez, Hikigaya-kun, you might be overthinking things a bit… all I really wanted was to see how you guys are doing, you know? Yukinoshita was the one who insisted that I turn it into a request. Truthfully, I just wanted to get a good night's sleep."

I recalled Shiromeguri-senpai's confession in the student council: what she had hoped to achieve.

Yukinoshita as president, Yuigahama as vice-president, and me as part of general affairs.

At the time, I had dismissed it as an impossible dream, even as I unknowingly trampled on Yukinoshita's own dreams. Perhaps, I was being selfish, pushing only the reality I saw.

"…still, that dream of yours, I still find it far-fetched. It would never have worked, the way we were back then. I'm sorry for letting you down, Shiromeguri-senpai, but I doubt we would have been able to fulfill your dream from back then."

Two months' worth of frustration made an undesirable noise as it flowed endlessly out of me.[6]

"I don't think I can give you that good night's sleep you're looking for."

"Well…I probably was mistaken in the first place, right?"

Shiromeguri-senpai smiled simply as I demolished the dreams she imagined.

"I thought things would have worked out, but that may have been from my perspective, huh? In retrospect, I might have complicated things further…"

Shiromeguri-senpai said unusually perceptive things, sometimes. Her face was one of seriousness, a face I rarely saw emerge from her normally cheerful appearance.

"Really, you don't have to this for us… or rather, for me. I don't deserve your kindness. Please, dedicate it to Yuigahama and Yukinoshita." I replied.

"Well, I don't like how you think like that. Even when you were assistant historian, you had that nasty habit." Shiromeguri-senpai pouted. "But that's why I'm doing this. I owe the three of you a lot things. You've been helping out Isshiki-san as well, right? And you've done so much for our sake, with nothing to show for it."

"We were just doing our job."

"Doing a job requires payment, no?"

"I don't like the way you phrase that, Shiromeguri-senpai." Bad thoughts were creeping in my head. No! Thinking of Shiromeguri-senpai that way was forbidden!

She giggled.

"Well, I may say all those nice things, but I ended up causing trouble again. Honestly, my request this time was simple. Plus, you're wrong: I _can_ sleep well, after all of this.I just didn't imagine it would turn out like this." And then Shiromeguri-senpai let out a cheery smile, far different from the sly smile I've seen from other people - I _knew _it was hiding something, but there was no hint of malice to it. "Do you want to know what I want, Hikigaya-kun?"

Of course I did. I wanted to understand. Even if it was from this flighty gust of wind, this whimsical upperclassman known as Shiromeguri Meguri, whose actions seemingly hid no ulterior motive, who was as free as the air.

Shiromeguri-senpai, taking my silence as a yes, tiptoed closer to me, leaned into my ear, and whispered. My ears twitched as her lips brushed lightly against my earlobes, as her whispers seemed to be an arrow piercing straight to my heart:

_I want to see you three happy_.

She immediately retreated, and let out a smile I honestly couldn't call devilish, even if her actions were technically on the same level as a Hikigaya Komachi or an Isshiki Iroha.

"Well, I've done my job, and you guys succeeded in my request, so I'll leave it at that."

With a skip and a giggle, she turned around, and I realized that we had arrived in front of the club room. Without any reservation, Shiromeguri-senpai knocked and then opened the door.

The warm smell of tea blasted outside the room, combining with the warmth of our heater.

Since I was here, there was no doubt that Yuigahama would insist I eat lunch with her and Yukinoshita. I could almost imagine it: "Hikkiiiii, you're here already, you might as well eat with me and Yukinon, right? It's perfectly logical!"

Even if all I had was bread and the two of them had bentos, we could probably have an alright time together. Well, I want to believe that.

Well, it's not like I had anything else to do for lunch, right?

I smiled and made my way inside the room.

-0-

**Yuigahama Yui's Mobile Diary: Entry XI  
Mood: Surprised **

no way! yukinon asked me to meet with her!

i wuz sirprised at 1st bcoz yukinon rarely asks 2 mit but wen i saw her w/ hikki i knew something was up! I asked if dey wer on a date but yukinon sed no! then she got all srs and sed sorry fr the mean stuff she sed in the past and I sed it was fyn and I didn't take it wrong! then she asked me why I left the clubroom early n I was lyk, huh? I told u, ryt? wen we tol hikki abt this later he burst out lol-ing and sed "So, this is the fabled 'misunderstanding', huh? Damn you, Inoue![7]" den yukinon told him to stop making obscure references.

i wuz jst so happy bcoz yukinon sed she wnted to spend more time with me and hikki! i think d 3 of us r getting even closer! ＼（Ｔ∇Ｔ）／

**Early To Bed, Early to Rise (text message, Saturday, 21:37 – Sunday, 8:37, the weekend prior)**

**From: Yui  
Title: nontitle  
Time: 21:37 (Saturday)**

Hikki, can you help me with our Japanese homework?

**From: Hachiman  
Title: woah  
****Time: 8:28 (Sunday)**

What happened to you, Yuigahama? You're actually typing like a normal person. Anyway, I can lend you my notes before class starts. I'll try to pass it to you discretely so nobody notices. Just make sure no one sees you giving it back to me!

**From: Yui  
Title: re: woah  
Time: 8:29 (Sunday)**

That's so rude, Hikki! You told me to fix my texting! Anyway, thanks! But, you don't have to be so secretive, you know? It isn't weird if we share notes, right? I can just tell everyone you're 3rd in the humanities!

Also, why the late reply? And why are you awake so early?

**From: Hachiman  
Title: re2: woah  
****Time: 8:30 (Sunday)**

You don't have to change just for my sake, though. Also, ugh, please don't. I don't want anyone finding out my rank in the humanities, they might bother me for homework too. I'm willing to make an exception for you. But seriously, try to be discrete, ok? I don't want people talking unnecessarily behind our backs.

Anyway, I'm watching _PreCure_ with my sister. She gets mad if I don't wake up early to watch it with her, so I slept early since I was feeling tired last night.

**From: Yui  
Title: re3: woah  
Time: 8:30 (Sunday)**

Ok!

wait, wots precure?

**From: Hachiman  
Title: re4: woah**

**Time: 8:37 (Sunday)**

That'll be on the test (lol)

-0-

A/N: Whew! Finally done. Next arc features Saki, Komachi, and Iroha. Get hype! I've also pm'd the winners of my previous challenge already, don't worry.

Next chapter involves tokusatsu discussion between the Service Club. I hope you like reading about tokusatsu and PreCure! What do you think Yukinoshita's favorite super sentai and kamen rider are?

Also, what'd you all think about Tamanawa? I'm tempted to write about him now.

Also: the spoilers for volume 11 are out, and this means I am _definitely_ diverging from canon since the timeline is ridiculously strict. I can fit in the events of the next arc before and during Iroha's free newspaper request, but since _that_ ends near Valentine's day, my options for activities are way more limited. I'm definitely gonna produce an alternate Valentine's day event, which will probably be sweeter than anything Watari Wataru will write. All right people, how painful will Volume 11 be? How much pain will the author inflict on us? Will Yui cry some more, will Yukino be even more dere, will Hachiman continue to wallow in pain?

So what do you think so far? Leave a review!

* * *

[1] Julian Barnes novel, dealing with the metaphor of staring at the sun as representative of human life

[2] Yukitoki, the first OP.

[3] Avalon, from Fate/stay night. Specifically, Realta Nua's Last Episode, where Shirou finally reaches Saber's utopia.

[4] That stray strand of hair that stubbornly refuses to go down with the rest of Hachiman's hair. Yukino has something similar. Some say if you pull off the ahoge, you unleash Hachiman Alter or Yukino Alter. Stats are drastically increased, but intuition is weakened and the Holy element disappears. In the case of Hachiman Alter, perhaps the Holy element is gained?

[5] If you have no idea who uses this as a catchphrase in anime, then you might be denser than a harem anime protagonist, or you need to watch _The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya_.

[6] If you can pinpoint this reference, then I salute you

[7] Toshiki Inoue, infamous for his…misunderstanding-filled plots. Became famous as the writer of_ Chōjin Sentai Jetman_, _Kamen Rider Agito_, and _Kamen Rider Faiz_.


	5. Hachiman, Yui, and Yukino: 2

A/N: I wanted to do this in one shot, since people were wondering why I wrapped up Yui's issues so quickly last chapter. My hope is that, once everyone reads and finishes this arc, then the general 'format' of this story will be obvious. In the same way that the light novels contain the basic structure of solving requests, I wanted the opening arc to illustrate just how the stories I'll be presenting in this fic will turn out. Sadly, good story ideas tend to take a life of their own, and balloon out of proportion.

Consider the timeline of this arc to be in between Iroha's date with Hachiman and before she comes forward with the free newspaper request. Oh, and yes, footnote 6 is an SAO reference. Hachiman's just the kind of guy to reference that kind of shit, even in a serious moment.

Anyway, let's go!

-0-

Story 3.1: Surprisingly, **Service Club **lunchtimes are peaceful, too

What kind of relationship exists between siblings?

If I were asked that question, I would probably scowl and go "Huuuuuuuh, what kind of dumb-ass question is that? I don't get it at all! Make yourself clear, you disgusting loner with eyes full of DHA!" before flipping my imaginary blonde hair, like one of those _ojou-sama _types.

In the first place, there are many ways to define a relationship between siblings. If I were to put it metaphorically, there are as many variations on sibling relationships as there are variations on the shape of snowflakes. After all, the term "special snowflake" exists.

In any case, trying to give a general answer to the question of what kind of relationship exists between siblings is futile. Siblings, after all, are simply strangers forced to spend more time together. Thanks to the unbreakable bonds known as "family ties", siblings can be considered the closest of strangers.

In other words, you can have just as many kinds of relationships with your siblings, just like how the kinds of relationships you can maintain with other people are infinite in scope. After all, the variations on relationships you can potentially establish with strangers is numerically high, so for siblings, the closest of strangers, the same should hold true as well. In logical terms, if A (siblings) = BC (closest stranger, and if C (strangers) = D (a great variety of relationships), then A = D. _Wait, I think I messed up the logical chain somewhere here…_

To put it another way: You can hate each other, adore each other, be neutral towards each other; you can be totally devoted to each other, or hate each other's guts. Of course, I don't mean to suggest that all kinds of relationships between siblings are permissible - this isn't some trashy romcom light novel set in Chiba, and a disgustingly sweet relationships between blood-related siblings is highly forbidden[1]. In fact, it's creepy and disgusting. [2]

For example, compare my relationship with my little sister, Komachi. There's very little we share in common: her school rank hovered perpetually around the triple digits, while I could boast a single digit rank in the humanities. _Don't just ask about my science-related subjects..._

Unlike me, Komachi was good at dealing with people, was keenly aware of social interaction and societal niceties, and actually bothered putting up with the rules of social etiquette. In contrast, I was utter scum, the lowest of the low, a reject even amongst rejects.

In that sense, you might say "there's completely no reason for the two of you to interact at all," and I would agree wholeheartedly with that declaration. Indeed, the creatures known as Hikigaya Hikigaya Komachi and Hikigaya Hachiman had characters which were as different as daytime and nighttime. It's easy to assume that the two of us wouldn't get along, and instead hate each other's guts.

This isn't so far off the mark, but because of those ties which we call "family ties", we're forced to put up with each other. Komachi puts it best: spend fifteen years together, and you're bound to learn how to tolerate each other, at least. That means that, on a regular day, we can criticize, despise, and mock each other's character, sometimes brutally so. However, because at the end of the day we'll have to share the same dining table and eat the same food, we have to draw a line _somewhere_ and ensure our arguments don't end up alienating us for too long. Otherwise, the parents would notice.

To cut a long story short, you can have just as many kinds of relationships with your siblings - the term 'sibling' is simply another word, like 'friends' or 'classmates' or 'girlfriend'; ultimately, none of these relationship labels matter. You can still hate each other, or like each other, although you can't fall in love with each other since that's immoral. You can be harsh to one another, or nice to each other, although if you're too harsh, you might provoke the ire of the overprotective father or mother.

_Wait a minute, doesn't that mean being siblings actually restrict what kind of relationships are permissible between them? What the heck, doesn't this totally negate my entire argument?_

-0-

"You know, I never got around to asking, but why were you awake so early last Sunday, Hikki?" Yuigahama asked, as she opened her bento box.

After Shiromeguri-senpai had excused herself, following her consultation with the Service Club, my predictions came true: Yuigahama insisted that I stay for lunch. Yukinoshita offered no opinion either way as I tried to excuse myself from having to spend time with Yuigahama and her during my precious lunch break. After all, I just had bread with me, you know? Wouldn't it feel weird eating cheap convenience store bread while Yuigahama and Yukinoshita ate out of bento boxes?

Being the master of etiquette that I was, I knew that, in such a scenario, the people with the more luxurious lunches would feel uneasy at such a set-up, and force themselves to offer of their bounty for the less fortunate souls. In my eternal consideration, I decided I would never allow Yuigahama to force herself to do it for me. After all, Yuigahama was the spitting image of the growing teenager who definitely needed to consume a lot of food to survive. Taking away even a small part of her meal was tantamount to starving her, wasn't it?

Well, I didn't have to worry about Yukinoshita showing me that kind of consideration, since she definitely wasn't the type to share lunch with anyone. Well, I wouldn't know, since I don't normally eat lunch with her, but she certainly fits that image.

"Huh? What makes you ask that?" I reply, as I unwrap my store-bought bread. As Yuigahama talked, I took a small bite out of my bread.

"I was checking my mailbox this morning and I realized I never got around to deleting our conversation… you never told me what _PreCure_ was, either." Yuigahama began digging into her rice, scooping up some rice into her mouth as she finished talking.

"It's just some magical girl anime Komachi likes." I reply, just as I swallowed the morsel of bread in my mouth. "She always bugs me to watch it with her." The pile of _PreCure_ DVDs littered around our home also belong to her, yep. Bought by my own money and ordered under my name, yes, but that's just because Komachi can't order things online and her allowance isn't enough to buy these kinds of things. Definitely. Yep.

"I see… I'm not really into anime, so I don't know what these kinds of things are." Yuigahama sheepishly replied, as she rubbed her head, as if apologizing for the lack of knowledge stored in her brain. No, it isn't your fault, Yuigahama, it's definitely my sister's fault…

"How should I put it? It's a kid's show, with lots of magic and explosions, I guess? Although the selling point of the series is that the characters are surprisingly prone to lots of hand to hand combat." Well, that's what got me into the Cure White faction, in the first place, anyway. Such a mild-mannered girl throwing out kicks and punches like nothing was seriously amazing.

"Un… I don't really get it... Yukinon, do you know these shows Hikki is talking about?" Yuigahama redirected the conversation topic to Yukinoshita, like a volleyball player redirecting the ball towards the other side of the court, where an unprepared defender was standing. In that way, it feels like she was trying to catch Yukinoshita off-guard, huh?

Since we were engaged in our conversation, I hadn't bothered looking at what Yukinoshita was doing. I turned to her, and was surprised at what Yukinoshita was holding: a cutesy Pan-san lunchbox, as well as a spoon with its handle decorated with panda paws. Hey, I get that you're really into the guy, but I'm pretty sure that's the kind of thing kids should be using, you know?

Yukinoshita was evidently a slow eater, as she had barely eaten anything out of her bento box. She looked at us, smiling vacantly. Evidently, she was content just listening to our conversation.

"I wouldn't know… these shows aren't really what piques my interest. After all, are they not for children?" Yukinoshita replied, her tone innocently curious. Still, I can't help but feel she's making fun of me, yanno? She phrased it as innocently as she could, but it still feels like it's supposed to imply I shouldn't be watching this stuff.

"Heh, that's true. There's really no reason for Yukinoshita to wake up that early on a Sunday Morning just to watch kid's anime. She definitely isn't the type to wake up early for Super Hero Time[3] or _PreCure_. I don't think she even knows what they are." It was hard imagining Yukinoshita enjoying the programming block – she'd probably be happier watching some other cutesy anime with cutesy animals in it.

"That isn't true, Hikigaya-kun." Yukinoshita replied. "There was a stretch of time in our childhood that Nee-san would force me to watch _Super Sentai _and _Kamen Rider_ shows with her." She put her fingers on her chin, adopting a thinking pose. "Yes, I remember. She would force me to wake up early just to catch them on television, even if our parents or servants would chastise her."

"W-wait, Haruno-san? Really?" Yuigahama blurted out. "No way… why did she like to watch those kinds of shows? Isn't that kind of, y'know, embarrassing?"

"Nee-san isn't the type of person to care what others think of her habits." Yukinoshita patiently explained to Yuigahama. "Well, I'm not too sure _why_ she enjoyed them myself, but she always forced me to watch those shows with her, and afterwards we would reenact these shows or come up with our own scenarios when playing, so I unfortunately developed a habit of watching them myself."

I could definitely see where Yukinoshita was coming from. Because Komachi would always wake me up at Sundays to watch with her, my body automatically developed a tendency to wake up early on Sundays to avoid Komachi's violent attempts at waking me up. I suppose you could call it a Pavlovian training method, but I prefer to think of it as humanity's inbuilt survival instinct. Or a defense mechanism to avoid pain.

Since my body was wired to wake up early on Sundays, I might as well watch the shows on television, right? It's not like I like to watch them or anything!

Yuigahama nodded, staring intently at Yukinoshita, who was deep in thought, trying to remember what she watched with her sister. "So, Yukinon, what did Haruno-san like to watch?"

"My memories of it are hazy," Yukinoshita began to speak. By now, both Yuigahama and I had stopped eating, intently waiting for Yukinoshita's story to unfold. "From what I remember, the hero of the show we watched resembled a _Kabuto_ beetle[4] – he could Cast Off[5] his armor, and moved at the speed of light to fight aliens from outer space masquerading as humans… honestly, it seems like such a ridiculous show, now that I think about it."

"That really doesn't help us figure out why your sister liked that show, though." I replied, resting my back against my seat as I took another bite out of my bread. "Do you remember anything about the plot?"

"Not much. The plot of the show was very convoluted, like one of your usual rants." Yukinoshita, as always, could not resist slipping in an insult at my direction. "The only thing that I remember clearly is that the hero was incredibly obsessed with his sister, to the point of being willing to be seen as a villain and fighting the other hero characters to protect his sister."

_Isn't that ridiculously transparent of you, Haruno-san?_

"I suppose my sister feels some affinity with that kind of character, although on my part I found the hero rather obnoxious – he was too perfect and superior to everyone else, and he never interacted with his sister meaningfully to know what it is she wanted." Yukinoshita continued.

_Isn't this kind of development rather convenient, Yukinoshita? Seriously, why does this story seem so familiar, all of a sudden?_

"Really? Won't siblings be more aware of what each other feels, though? Yui asked, dumbfounded.

"Yuigahama, that's the kind of thing someone without siblings would assume." I reply, in lieu of Yukinoshita.

"Ehhhh? Really? Well, it's true that I don't have any brothers or sisters. What's it like to have a sibling, then?"

Yuigahama threw out the question nonchalantly, as she began eating from her bento box again. Yukinoshita, sensing that her role in the conversation was over, did the same.

For my part, I felt that I needed to correct Yuigahama's illusions.

Just because you were brother and sister didn't mean you automatically knew what was running in the head of the other. Sure, it varies from relationship to relationship, but the point is that you shouldn't assume all siblings share the same kind of relationship. I suppose if you were to look at my relationship with Komachi, then you could say Komachi and I could read each other's minds to a certain extent, but that definitely wasn't true for most people, like, say, Yukinoshita and her older sister.

That's right. I had said this before, when we had helped out on a certain middle school student's request, but it bears repeating: siblings are your closest strangers.

"I-In any case, that's what siblings are! Strangers you're forced to spend time with!" I blurted out carelessly. Man, that must have sounded weird to anyone who can't hear my thoughts.

In response, Yuigahama, who was humming absentmindedly while scooping food from her bento box, nodded along with my careless outburst.

"Ah, yeah, I remember Hikki saying something like that before." She raised her spoon to her lips, opened it slightly, and swallowed the rice in her spoon like a vacuum cleaner, although stray grains of rice fell onto her lips, blouse, and skirt. I just realized this, but Yuigahama was a really careless eater. All throughout our conversation she had been spilling food all over herself. Um, not that I took any particular interest in her spilling food all over herself.

"Yuigahama, please be more careful while eating. Are you a child?" Yukinoshita chided, producing napkins and presenting them to Yuigahama. Yuigahama responded by grabbing the napkins and putting it on top of the table we shared.

"Huh? Oh, right, right, yeah, I shouldn't spill rice everywhere. I'll clean it up, don't worry!"

"That's not the point! In the first place, you're already using a spoon, so why are you still throwing rice around? Plus, weren't you told not to talk too much while eating?" I followed up.

"I-in any case!" Yuigahama replied, as she forcefully brushed aside my criticism of her ability to still make a mess of her food while using a spoon as compared to chopsticks, "don't you think calling your sister a stranger is weird? I mean, your relationship with Komachi-chan definitely isn't that of strangers!"

"Yuigahama, that's simply a result of having to spend fifteen years together." I offer as a counter-argument. "We're already so used to each other's problems that we don't bother calling each other out, at least not in public."

"B-but still! Doesn't that mean there's already something different when you compare relationships between normal people and siblings? Like, you spend a lot of time together, right? Right?"

"Uh, if that's the case, then what differentiates a sibling from, say, a childhood friend? They're pretty much the same if you look at hours spent together." I reply.

"Well, um, for one, you can't fall in love with your little sister!"

"Was that really the best difference you can think of? In the first place, why are you so insistent that there's something different with the way we treat our siblings as opposed to other people?"

Yuigahama put down her unfinished bento. "Well, that's like..." she let out a nervous laugh and played with the strands of her hair. "I mean... when I look at you and Komachi-chan, you look so different, so I think you... uh... have a different relationship with her than with most people? I mean, I wouldn't know since I don't have a brother or a sister."

"Yeah, I guess you could say I dote on Komachi too much. Still, the way you phrase it is kind of annoying, Yuigahama."

"Yuigahama-san, isn't it possible that it's all because Hikigaya-kun has an unhealthy fixation with Komachi-san?" Yukinoshita said. She was smiling gracefully, although I could feel her ice-cold insults all over my body. Truly, her ability to let out insulting phrases while smiling like an angel was a fearsome Noble Phantasm[6].

Also, what's this about an unhealthy fixation? The only unhealthy fixation I have is on Totsuka, thank you very much!

"Well, Hikki _is _a siscon..."

"Stop throwing false accusations around! And stop agreeing with everything Yukinoshita says!"

"Well, you're like really really close to her! And you hate most people! Isn't that totally weird? You're, like, completely different around Komachi!"

"Ugh, whatever." I spat out as I took the last bite out of my bread. Oh, I didn't realize it, but I had eaten through my entire lunch already. Well, I still had my MAX Coffee, but I didn't realize I was really hungry today. I definitely wasn't jealous of what Yuigahama and Yukinoshita were eating, nope. I grabbed the MAX Coffee I placed at my feet and opened it. The smell of warm coffee invaded the room.

"Hikigaya-kun… you don't want tea?" Yukinoshita asked. Yuigahama and Yukinoshita evidently had prepared tea just for the two of them, and my sudden presence at lunchtime meant they didn't have tea to offer to me. Well, I don't really eat lunch here, so this is unsurprising.

"Don't really want to force you to make tea for me during lunchtime. Besides, I need the sugar to stay awake in class."

"But you always sleep in class, Hikki."

"That's not true! I'm always awake when Hiratsuka-sensei is lecturing!"

"That's just because she'll punch you if you doze off, though."

"Ugh, don't remind me… the amount of physical punishment she inflicts on a regular basis should have landed her in hot water, but some guardian deity probably protects her."

Yukinoshita followed our conversation with a troubled expression, as if unsure of what to do. After what seemed like an eternity, she motioned to stand up.

"I'll make some tea."

I darted my head towards her and shaked it. "No, no, you don't have to make more tea just for me." My reply was met with indifference from Yukinoshita

"I-I'll help, Yukinon!" Yuigahama made a move to stand up, but Yukinoshita shook her own head and motioned to Yuigahama to sit down.

"No need, I'm fine."

Yuigahama, seemingly wanting to do something, looked between Yukinoshita, preparing more tea, and me, unable to move. What was the proper etiquette for these kinds of scenario? Yukinoshita had already made up her mind to prepare tea for me, so I couldn't just say no, right? Instead, I drank my MAX Coffee.

…now that I think about it, the silence of that club room at lunch time was refreshing. Not a lot of students populated this wing of the building, so the only noise emanated from the three of us.

I didn't like eating lunch in our classroom – people were noisy, and all you could hear was meaningless chatter, meaningless conversations, meaningless people… if you brought a bento box, there were people who would swarm all over you and ask for food. If you were with a circle of friends, you could ward them off by sharing among yourselves, creating the illusion of a perfect circular defense, but tough luck if you were alone – some rowdy kid could probably force you to cough up your lunch money. Although, that doesn't exist in this school – we weren't some stereotypical American high school.

That kind of set-up is a pain, isn't it? Which is why eating your lunch alone is preferable. People didn't have to bother you while you were eating, and you were free to eat whatever you want. Nobody fussed all over you too. Plus, preparing lunch was a bother. Why wake up extra early just so you could have a slightly nicer lunch? Bread still filled the stomach, and it was faster to eat compared to rice and fish or whatever. The less time spent on eating, the more free time you had, after all. In terms of efficiency, wasn't my method the best?

"Hikki, you sure you're not hungry? Why don't you bring a proper lunch, anyway?"

"I don't want to bother Komachi about it. She already prepares breakfast for us, and our parents are busy. Making her prepare lunch for me sounds like a bother."

"Oh, you're surprisingly considerate, Hikigaya-kun. I assumed you were the type of person who expected to be pampered from head to toe," Yukinoshita said from the other side of the room, as she selected tea bags.

"Yukinon, that's mean!" Yuigahama chastised, before turning to me again, her hands curled up into fists and raised to her chest. The pose reminded me of a little girl showing interest in some newly discovered device. "I think that's really considerate of you, Hikki!" Her eyes sparkled like a jewel being illuminated with sunlight. She was smiling broadly, as if to say "my judgment of Hikki was correct, as I expected!"

Well, she did say something along those lines a long time ago. I could still remember the bustle of the crowd, the explosion of the fireworks, Yukinoshita Haruno…

_In retrospect, could I really call that memory a happy one? Can Yuigahama even look back at those fireworks without flinching?_

"What are you talking about, I'm the most considerate person there is." I stammered.

"Yeah, yeah, you said the same thing too." Yuigahama dismissed my words, already expecting my reply. "Anyway, you look like you're still hungry, since you kept looking at me and Yukinon eating."

"I'm _sorry_ for staring then. I usually eat alone so I don't know the proper etiquette about these things."

"A…ticket? Huh?" Yuigahama raised her right index finger to her lips. I could imagine question marks emerging around her head.

"It's a loanword from French. Seriously, should I lend you a dictionary?" I scratched my head. Surely, my classmate Yuigahama Yui can't be this dumb?[7]

"Yuigahama-san, we may need some emergency tutoring for you, at this rate. How do you hope to pass your exams?" Yukinoshita chided, while heating some water.

"I'm gonna be fiiiiiine, you guys!" Yuigahama proudly declared. "Anyway! The point is, when you were staring at us, um, honestly, it's kinda creepy, like you haven't eaten anything for, like, a couple of days… but!"

Yuigahama suddenly stood up, taking her bento box and her chair with her. In one swift motion, she plopped her chair next to mine, sat uncomfortably close to me, leaned forward, her body resting against my shoulders and said:

"Do you want to share my lunch, Hikki?"

Simultaneously:

I spat out my coffee in the opposite direction.

In the distance, the clattering of spoons and cups, as well as the splashing of tea.

"H-Hikki?! Yukinon?!"

Yuigahama immediately withdrew herself, preventing my incoming heart attack. For a moment, I was worried that…certain body parts were colliding with my arms, but thankfully the soft sensation disappeared immediately once Yuigahama backed off. _Yuigahama! You need a lesson in societal manners!_

"I-I'm fine, Yuigahama-san!" Yukinoshita hurriedly blurted out, as she fixed the disarranged cups, spoons, and tea bags. She took a couple of napkins and began wiping the spilled tea. "Unfortunately, I'll have to redo everything, Hikigaya-kun."

"It's fine, it's fine!" I almost screamed out, as if to drown out the embarrassment. "Take your time!"

"Yes…yes. I will." Yukinoshita took a deep breath, before taking the kettle and a couple of cups on a tray. "I, I'll have to wash these up first. Please, don't mind me."

Yukinoshita, without missing a beat, took everything in a tray and stepped out, leaving me in the room with Yuigahama. Wait a minute! Yukinoshita, what in the world did you just do?! This was definitely something out of a romantic comedy, wasn't it?! This was the fabled "accept my feelings through a lunchbox tactic!" used by all the homely female characters, right? The best way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and all that, after all!

But I wasn't a foolish, naïve idiot – I was an experienced loner, savvy to the ways of the world. No such development happens in real life. I was not the protagonist of a romantic comedy story, and I wasn't surrounded by women attracted to me. If anything, the women in my life _absolutely_ hated my guts. If so, I must remind myself, once again, that everything happening is _perfectly innocent_ and that I was misreading things once more. Once bitten, twice shy. I can't fall for the same mistakes I did before. No, not can't – I _won't_. I am too well-versed for these cliché developments.

Yuigahama Yui was just being nice and felt guilty that she was eating out of a bento box while all I had was one piece of bread, right? That was definitely it!

I turn towards Yuigahama, intending to rectify this misunderstanding. "Y-Yuigahama… there really is no need for you to dote on me. I'm perfectly fine with my lunch."

"Y-You don't have to make it all weird! Jeez!" Yuigahama pouted and shaked her head as she blushed faintly. "I mean, you always look so sad when you look at everyone else eating with full lunches…"

"How can you even tell?"

"Well, whenever I pass by you eating on your own, you're always sighing and glaring at other people! And when you're stuck in the class you always look at me and Yumiko and Hina eating our lunches like you're jealous!"

Yuigahama stood up in front of me and put her arms down in front of her, like a kid screaming when she can't get her way. From my position, I couldn't help but notice the grains of rice that had fallen on her, um, chest.

"I was just observing. OB-SER-VING. There definitely wasn't any malice or envy to it."

"Isn't that just stalking?!"

"Observing and stalking are fundamentally things! For star-"

"…Hey, am I interrupting something?"

In one fell swoop, our conversation was shattered into pieces – it was only at that moment that the two of us realized that our faces had moved uncomfortably close to each other in our heated argument. Yuigahama, mindful of our positions, immediately retracted her body and looked at the source of the voice.

What shook us out of our argument was a voice that I vaguely recognized. Kawatsuki? Kawachika? Kawanani?

"Kawa… kawa…" I began to blurt out, trying to recall her name. Something about motorcycle cycles?

"It's _Kawasaki_, you moron."

-0-

"Could have knocked, y'know." I tell Kawasomething-san.

"You two were too busy arguing to notice me knocking." She replied, in her usual grumpy tone, as she took a seat opposite us. It was the usual seat for the clients of the Service Club: at the middle of the long table we used, opposite all three members.

Our client this time was Kawasaki Saki, a classmate of Yuigahama and me from 2F.

If I were to describe her, it would probably be something along the lines of an unapproachable beauty, not unlike Yukinoshita.

The difference between the two of them was night and day, though: Yukinoshita looked from afar like a frail porcelain doll, while Kawasaki Saki looked like a delinquent.

Her uniform was frequently messy, and she wore a ton of accessories, like hair clips and scrunchies and whatnot. She had her silver hair tied up in a long ponytail which reached up to her hips. She rarely wore the school blazer, probably for ease of movement, and her skirt was dangerously short, although I assume it's because of her surprisingly tall frame. Honestly, she wasn't all that bad to look at, but she was _scary_ – she always had that aura that seemed to say "don't get near me", bundled with her height and a face that always frowned. I think the only time I've ever seen her happy was when she was with her siblings.

_So, Kawasaki's just a big brocon, huh?_

Well, looks were deceiving, after all. Kawasaki had a surprisingly girly side to her, since she liked to sew and make her own accessories. Despite looking like a delinquent, Kawaasaki used to be a model student, and she was aiming for a national university for the Liberal Arts – not an easy feat by any metric. Still, she put up a very good wall to keep people from invading her privacy.

"Well, what do you need, Kawasaki-san? The Service Club's here to help!" Yuigahama, having spent time with Kawasaki already, probably isn't afraid of her rough exterior anymore.

Kawasaki sighed. "I don't need the Service Club. I just want Hikigaya."

Um.

"W-w-w-w-w-what?! Kawasaki-san, what are you saying?" Yuigahama exclaimed, her face turning beet red in embarrassment as she flailed her arms wildly, as if trying to erase the scene that had just happened. Look, I'm embarrassed here, too, but don't overreact like that, dammit!

"Wait, it's nothing like that!" Kawasaki stood up from her seat, blushing profusely as well. Somehow, this side of her was incredibly familiar… why was I thinking of the Cultural Festival all of a sudden? All I remember was my irresponsible _love ya! _to Zaimokuza. "Look, I'm not here for a consultation. I just need this guy."

After giving her _perfectly_ reasonable excuse to ask for me, Yuigahama calmed down. "Oh… I get it. Why head here, though?"

"I was trying to find this guy all lunch, but he wasn't in his usual spots. Ugh, I had to ask people where he was, but they were all "Whogaya?" and "who's that (lol)" and all kinds of crap…" She slapped the palm of her left hands against her face as it to combat an incoming headache.

My usual spots...? Seriously, Kawasaki, your language is kind of rough, you know? That's not very ladylike… besides, why do you keep calling me _this _guy? I have a name!

"Luckily, I ran into Hiratsuka-sensei," Kawasaki continued, "and she recommended I look for this guy here. I nearly forgot, but you're part of this nosy club, right?"

At that moment, the door to the Service Club opened, unleashing a strong blast of cool winter wind. I could feel someone cast a Cocytus spell[8] on our bodies, freezing my limbs to prevent escape.

"Ah, I didn't notice Kawasaki-san was here." Instead of her usual icy smile, Yukinoshita was unleashing strong blasts of chilly wind. What she wore instead of the cold smile I expected was a scowl that reminded me of her older sister. I could almost hear Haruno-san's words in Yukinoshita's voice: "Tsk, how irritating…"

_That's right, these two don't get along at all…_

Kawasaki, for her part, stiffened a bit at Yukinoshita's icy glare, but to her credit she stood her ground. "Yukinoshita," she replied.

"Hikki…they're scaring me…" Yuigahama whispered in my ear. Yep, I was scared too. I let out a small sigh.

Trying to defuse the situation, I began talking. "In any case, Kawasaki just needs me, so I'll just go along with her, ok? Lunch's almost over anyway. Like Kawasaki said, this isn't a consultation."

"No, I wish to converse with Kawasaki-san."

I made a move to stand up from my chair, but Yukinoshita's sharp gaze and words pinned me in place, like a Medusa whose gaze turned people into stone. Is this another Noble Phantasm? How broken are you, Yukinoshita?!

"I'm not very fond of people who barge into this room, demanding that they get their way." Yukinoshita began to say, as she deposited the tray of cups and tea onto its designated table. As she made her way into the club, her long, black hair fluttered in the wind, giving her the image of an ethereal spirit gracefully gliding through the air. I could tell that even Kawasaki was entranced. "And I'm not especially fond of people who insult what we do in this club, considering how much effort its members have given in order to fulfill requests placed upon us."

Yukinoshita turned around and crossed her arms underneath her chest, tilting her face slightly upwards, as if to look down on Kawasaki. At this moment she was the perfect image of snobbery. "So, Kawasaki-san, what is it that you need from the _Service Club?_"

"I _told _you people, I'm not here for a consultation. You guys are way too nosy. I just need Hikigaya. He isn't the Service Club's property, is he?"

Yuigahama made a slight squeaking voice behind me – she had placed her hands atop my shoulders without me realizing it. Her grip tightened intensely as Kawasaki threatened Yukinoshita. She leaned in and whispered, "Hikki, why is Yukinon so mad?"

"I wouldn't know," I whispered back.

Yukinoshita stood her ground and stared back at Kawasaki. "You _come _into this room unannounced, you _demand_ to take away one of its members during his free time, and worse of all, you _belittle_ what we do in this club. Considering how much Hikigaya-kun has contributed to the success of this club, to simultaneously dismiss the Service Club and yet demand his services seems disingenuous, _Kawasaki-san_."

Yukinoshita's controlled outburst evidently left Kawasaki in surprise, as she was unable to give back a reply.

"So, let me ask again: what do you need from Hikigaya-kun? As Hikigaya-kun is a _member _of the Service Club, we have the right to know what services you intend to elicit from him. If you intend to draft Hikigaya-kun to some strange scheme, you will have to contend with us."

"Y-yeah! Hikki isn't your errand boy!" Yuigahama, swept up by the atmosphere, added more words to the spreading fire. Seriously though, should we really be antagonizing Kawasaki? I could have just gone along with her and avoided escalating the entire scenario. Also, why did you immediately think Kawasaki wanted me to run errands for her? I'm not being bullied, you know?

As it stood, we were basically dealing with a ticking time-bomb, and any attempts to defuse it was dangerous. One wrong move and we could trigger a powerful explosion.

"…I probably screwed up phrasing it." Kawasaki finally said, after a moment of silence. "Fine, fine, I'll make it an actual consultation, since you people don't seem willing to let it go."

"Oh, is that so?" Yukinoshita gleefully taunted. _Is it just me, or is Yukinoshita sounding more and more like Haruno with each sentence?_

"…whatever. Anyway, lunch is almost over, so can I just come back after class? I'd rather not talk about it with all of you, but since you're so _insistent_," Kawasaki snarled, "I may as well lay all my family problems at your feet. Seriously, you're too damn nosy for your own good." With that, Kawasaki stood from her seat and went straight for the door. I was half expecting her to slam the door on the way out, although Kawasaki turned out to be more mature than I expected and closed the door gently.

Yukinoshita simply nodded at Kawasaki's admittance of defeat, although I could imagine she was mentally making fist pumps at another successful victory at verbal sparring. In many ways, Yukinoshita Yukino was such a kid.[9]

Kawasaki's departure was seemingly the trigger for the lifting of some kind of spell; the heaviness that permeated the room since Yukinoshita's re-entry was lifted, allowing Yuigahama and I to breathe more easily.

"What was that all about?" I asked, to nobody in particular.

-0-

**Bonus scene: The Service Club plays a card game**

(Inside the clubroom, while waiting for Kawasaki Saki after class…)

"You guys, check this out!" Yuigahama cheerfully declared, like a little child showing off her perfectly average grade to her parents. Well, I suppose for Yuigahama that kind of rating would be amazing already…

Yuigahama rummaged through her schoolbag, before producing a deck of playing cards. For a moment I could hear Doraemon in her "ta-da!" voice. The way she held the deck aloft reminded me of how Link always held up treasure he found in dungeons.[10]

"Yuigahama-san, I don't think playing cards are allowed on campus." Yukinoshita gently reminded Yuigahama.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's fine, as long we're not caught." I tell her. I honestly couldn't care less, but since Yuigahama was obviously proud of what she was showing off, we may as well humor her. I removed my earphones and looked at Yuigahama's cards. Incidentally, I was listening to Yuigahama's music recommendation, some singer with a silly repeating name. [11] She kept singing about some story I apparently didn't know…

"See, even Hikki wants to play!" Yuigahama triumphantly exclaimed. In return, Yukinoshita sighed.

"I'm not really interested. I'm not well-versed in card games, after all."

"That doesn't really surprise me, considering most card games require you to play with friends." I say, as I look at Yukinoshita with a cheeky grin.

"That's very bold of you, Hikigaya-kun. Surely the same is also true of you?" Yukinoshita immediately adopted her battle pose, smirking at me as she fixed the hair covering her ears.

"Unlike you, I actually have played card games with other people." Sure, most of the time it was either my sister or Zaimokuza, but that counts, right? Oh, there was that time with everyone during the school trip as well, I think.

"C-come on you guys, this really isn't the time to argue, I just want to play some card games." Yuigahama whined. Unfortunately, her plea fell on deaf ears.

"_Oh?_ I find that _very_ hard to believe, Hikigaya-kun."

"Guuuuys, let's not fight here, save it for when we play!"

"As you can see, I'm perfectly willing to play along with Yuigahama, which implies that I'm not afraid of playing whatever social game Yuigahama wants to play. You, on the other hand, refuse to participate, which implies that you're not confident with your ability to win. Definitely, it's because you have very little experience with card games."

"Hikkiiiii, come oooooooon, don't taunt Yukinon noooooooooow..."

"Come to think of it, I definitely _do_ have experience playing card games, Hikigaya-kun. Did I not win the card game versus the UG Club?"

"Ugh, that gross game… why'd you have to bring that up, Yukinon?"

"Look, just admit it, you're afraid you're gonna lose. After all, Yuigahama and I are much more experienced at these kinds of games."

"Such cheap provocation… very well, I accept. I suppose you wish to use the same rules we used versus the UG Club?"

"Ugh, no, that penalty game was gross and disgusting. And please stop bringing up that entire debacle, I don't want to remember anything from that time."

"Hikki _did_ end up in his underwear…"

"Yuigahama, these things are all in the past, all right? There's no point digging up such embarrassing memories."

"I thought it might be fun if it was just the three of us, though…"

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing!"

Yuigahama removed the deck of cards from its pack and began shuffling. "So, like, I was thinking about what a suitable penalty game was, and I thought of the perfect punishment!"

"Make the losers buy the winner drinks?" I hazarded, hoping that whatever Yuigahama's harebrained scheme was, it wouldn't be too difficult.

"No way, that's too easy!" Yuigahama immediately shot my suggestion down as she began distributing cards amongst the three of us. Uh, shouldn't we agree on what game we should play first?

"What I was thinking was, the losers have to treat the winner to lunch tomorrow!" Yuigahama proudly declared.

Well, I couldn't complain, since if I won I was getting free lunch. Still, doesn't it feel awkward to be getting free food from these two…?

"By treat, do you mean the losers will have to prepare lunch for the winner?" Yukinoshita inquired. "In that case, I feel as if I am at a disadvantage. Being treated to cheap bread by Hikigaya-kun or Yuigahama's…personal cooking doesn't seem like an interesting proposal."

"Yukinon's being mean again…!" Yuigahama's response as well-honed as always.

"Hey, I'm perfectly capable of preparing bento boxes myself. Well, as long as we have a decent dinner the night before. Leftovers aren't _that_ hard to re-heat, you know? And if I really have to, I guess I can try cooking something… probably just curry, though."

Yukinoshita and Yuigahama, upon hearing my last sentence, simultaneously looked at me, their eyes and mouths agape.

"You…"

"…will cook?"

"What's with this totally surprised reaction? I'm perfectly capable of making my own lunches! I just don't want to!"

Besides, if Yukinoshita thinks the penalty game is too skewed in either Yuigahama or my favor, I may as well prove her wrong, right? Well, I'm confident in my ability to win, so I'm not too worried.

Yukinoshita coughed and cleared her throat. "Setting aside the penalty game, since I think we're in agreement…what will be the game?"

Yuigahama pondered things over for a moment, before replying, "Egyptian Ratscrew!"

"Really? Ugh, fine." I reply. Yukinoshita, in contrast, had no idea what the words Yuigahama uttered meant. A complete and total role reversal, I tell you.

"Hikigaya-kun, explain." Yukinoshita swiftly ordered me, as if I was a dog trained to bark at her command.

"Wait, you're not gonna hear the explanation from me?!" Yuigahama whined, her response swift and timed perfectly to Yukinoshita's well-honed stealth insult.

"You're terrible at explanations," Yukinoshita replied just as quickly. "Hikigaya-kun has plenty of faults, but he's knowledgeable about useless things."

So our little competition's useless now, huh?

Anyway, I explained the game. "Egyptian Ratscrew" is similar to the game Slapjack, where players took turns laying down cards from their own pile of cards until specific cards appeared – in which case the players rushed to "slap" the pile with their hands to claim all of the cards already laid down for their own.

In the case of Egyptian Ratscrew, the specific rules were as follows:

1) The player to the left of the dealer begins by placing a card face-up, always from the top of his/her deck (they can't look at the cards in their deck), to start a central pile. Play then proceeds around the circle until a face card or Ace is played

2) The next player then has a number of chances to play another face card or Ace, as follows: four chances after an Ace, three after a King, two after a Queen, and one after a Jack. The challenged player plays his/her cards, one at a time, until he/she either draws another face card onto the pile or exhausts all of his/her allowed chances. If the challenged player is able to play a face card, the next player after him/her must beat it; if the initial face card could not be beaten in its allotted chances, the challenger who placed it takes the pile.

3) There are certain combinations of cards that, when played, allows the players to "slap" the pile of cards to claim it on their own. For this particular game, we're going with the basics: the Double (any two cards of equal rank) and the sandwich (a double with one card of a different value between the two). As soon as Yukinoshita got the rules of the game, we could introduce new rules to make the game more tense.

4) The winner is the person who got all the cards. If you slap too early, you get penalized.

"Oh, my preferred house rule is fairly simple: if the two consecutive cards add up to a ten, you can slap the pile."

"That's a pretty simple rule, Hikki. I'm fine with it for now, although we can add more complicated rules later. Do you get it, Yukinon?"

"I-I think so. Let's just go. I intend to defeat both of you."

The first few rounds went fairly smoothly – we began by laying down a series of number cards, although none of them added up to a ten or formed a double, so no slaps happened.

The first serious slap was when Yukinoshita laid down the three of spades, and I followed up with the seven of hearts. Yuigahama, whose eyes were sharp as always, swiftly darted her hands towards the pile, slapping my hands away.

"Ow!" I squealed. Dammit, Yuigahama was playing to win here! Yuigahama simply grinned as she claimed the pile for her own.

"I see, so there is a physical element to this game as well," Yukinoshita sagely observed.

Yeah, that was partly why I agreed to this game. This was a game that required quick thinking, yes, and Yukinoshita was good at that, but it also required incredible reflexes and stamina – specifically, the willingness to endure pain as your hands repeatedly slapped against the table as you attempted to take card pile after card pile.

Nevertheless, Yukinoshita immediately bounced back – mastering the rules in just a few turns. Her speed was astounding too: immediately stealing any piles as soon as a sandwich or a double appeared. Her ability to immediately recognize "slappable" piles compensated for her inexperience, and soon Yuigahama and Yukinoshita were trading cards.

Well, not that it mattered to me. I was biding my time, carefully observing what cards I had gathered into my own deck, choosing the piles that mattered.

You see, while this game did have a physical element to it, there was the unavoidable fact that there was a way to win card piles without having to slap a pile: playing face cards.

My strategy, then, was to gather as many face cards as possible, and unleash them one by one to slowly deplete Yukinoshita and Yuigahama's decks. Of course, I can't see what card's coming up next in my deck, but that's why I intentionally allowed Yuigahama and Yukinoshita to take card piles that had very few face cards.

"There!"

"Hngh!"

"Gotcha!"

Soon, the room was filled the sounds of hands slapping against the table.

It became clear that Yuigahama and Yukinoshita were evenly matched – Yukinoshita was faster at slapping card piles, being able to identify doubles and sandwiches easily, but her poor stamina meant she couldn't press her advantage, allowing Yuigahama to take just as many card piles while Yukinoshita recovered her strength. I took card piles whenever possible, but I was content to leave the main battle to those two.

However, it meant that my deck was numerically lesser than that of either Yuigahama or Yukinoshita.

Also, another problem presented itself: most of my face cards were concentrated at the bottom of my deck, so there soon arrived a round where we continuously laid down number cards, one after the other, without getting doubles, sandwiches, or any combination that added up to ten. In other words, we were building up a sizable pile of cards.

_This is bad… whoever takes this pile will have a sizable advantage_.

Having a huge pile of cards at your disposal was a very strong advantage. While my strategy made use of high-quality cards, I couldn't risk my opponents having a huge number of cards with which they could build combinations with. Plus, no matter how careful I was, I couldn't ensure I had _all _the face cards, so they could easily surprise me by springing a surprise face card I wasn't expecting.

In other words, I had to absolutely win this pile.

It was Yukinoshita's turn at last, and she laid down the Queen of Diamonds. This is what I was afraid of: that they'd have random face cards._ Now, as long as I don't have another queen_…

My own deck was alarmingly low on cards.

I drew, and laid down the Jack of Clubs. That meant Yuigahama had to lay down one card, and hope she puts down a face card. The probability of such a thing was low, since Yuigahama had amassed quite a large number of number cards.

"Oh man…this is tense." Yuigahama took a deep breath, and Yukinoshita did the same. The three of us were sweating, despite the cool weather, because of the intensity of the game and the frequent slaps beginning to sting the palm of our hands. Yuigahama, sensing the importance of whatever she had, drew and laid the card atop the table.

It was the Queen of Hearts.

For a moment, it felt as if we were engulfed by some kind of heavy mist. My entire body moved as if wading through molasses, and my brain was sluggish and refused to work.

On top of the card pile was a queen, a jack, and another queen. According to our rules, this was fair game for a slap.

After an eternity, I felt my hands move on their own.

To my left, Yukinoshita did the same, her hands moving at the speed of light.

Yuigahama, who had laid down the card, realized what was happening and reacted in the same way.

Three hands, all rushing towards the card pile.

In that moment –

Our hands landed atop the card pile simultaneously.

More specifically, our hands crashed into each other and became entangled.

I felt my fingers interlock with both Yukinoshita's and Yuigahama's, as all three hands landed atop the card pile on the same time. I felt Yukinoshita's smooth, cold hands and Yuigahama's soft, warm hands intertwine with mine. All three hands had an equal claim to the card pile, but nobody seemed to notice. All I could feel were their hands, both irreplaceably unique, both hands highly different – but at that moment, all three hands fit each other perfectly.

Yuigahama stared at our hands, locked together, in shock.

Yukinoshita, evidently, had a hard time registering the scene.

In that moment, my heart began racing, and I felt blood rush towards my face.

Yuigahama's face began turning red.

Yukinoshita's breathing became rapid.

Definitely, this was the worst kind of development –

"…the hell are you people doing?"

Kawasaki Saki's voice broke us out of our reverie.

-0-

A/N: Whew, we delved a bit into Kaiji territory there, huh? I did my best to hold back on the drama in this chapter, but I can't help it any more - next chapter will involve some of it. Dammit, I swore I wanted to write cute, fluffy shit!

I _really_ like communicating with the readers, so I highly encourage y'all leave a review. I want to hear your thoughts on the story, points to improve, how you think the story will go from chapter to chapter, that kind of stuff. See, a major point of the series is playing with and subverting people's expectations and assumptions, and I tried to do something similar with Yukino's "Will you go out with me" scene from chapters 2-3. I was kind of hoping to mess with everyone's expectations, especially to those who went "Ah, she's just messing with him," and to twist those expectations a bit, in the same way that Hachiman's assumptions and expectations are all shattered and questioned relentlessly by the story.

What I'm getting at is that I'd like to gauge what everyone reading this story expects to see, chapter-by-chapter, to know if I'm pulling off that careful balancing act of fulfilling expectations, and at the same time legitimately surprising complacent opinions and predictions. Part of the themes of the series is that you must never, ever take anything for granted, and that assuming you know how things will work out on your own is a bad idea, and I want to impart that sensation on readers who think they know exactly how the story is going to play out.

Well, that's that. Basically, here's the thing: leave a review!

* * *

[1] To this day, I find it baffling that a series like _OreImo_ exists. Even if it's also set in Chiba, please don't think that all Chiba residents are hopeless siscons who dote on their younger siblings, even if said younger sibling hates them.

[2] Kirino's pet phrase (actually very ubiquitous in anime) is pretty easy to translate, but I like going with this one the most.

[3] Super Hero Time is a programming block on the Japanese television network, TV Asahi, featuring new episodes of tokusatsu television series from the _Super Sentai_ and _Kamen Rider_ series. SHT is what precedes _PreCure_, so don't be surprised if there's a ton of crossover fanart between the three franchises. It helps that they're all owned by Toei.

[4] The show Yukinoshita's talking about, _Kamen Rider Kabuto_, featured a main character whose Rider form was similar to that of kabutomushi (かぶとむし), or the Japanese rhinoceros beetle.

[5] The most notable ability of the Riders in _Kamen Rider Kabuto_ is "Cast Off", which allows them to shed their excess armor to switch into a less bulky form.

[6] Yukinoshita's Noble Phantasm would probably be an EX rank Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm with the property of "not looking like a fatal blow until it connects". It would probably feel like receiving a gift from someone, only for said gift to reveal a bomb.

[7] Which is the superior anime set in Chiba?

[8] One of Shiba Miyuki's abilities from _The Irregular in Magic High School_ is called Cocytis. Miyuki's voice, incidentally, is similar to a certain other Ice Queen.

[9] Iris' catchphrase from Pokemon: Best Wishes.

[10] Nothing beats the feeling of finding a new item while playing The Legend of Zelda. The tune they use to reveal items is amazing too.

[11] Can YOU guess who Hachiman is listening to? And what song?


	6. Haruno

A/N: This chapter's sprawling out of control – according to my notes and my outline, it looks like I'm risking breaking somewhere around the ballpark of 10,000 words for this chapter if I go through with my plans. I've been really busy lately as well, and I'm going on a vacation this month, so I wanted to get something out before I go. So, have this short chapter. This was initially the starting point of the next chapter, but I've decided on something interesting, similar to the memorandums in volume 10.

Anyway, let's go!

-0-

Monologue 1: On **Yukinoshita Haruno**

For some reason, I've been thinking more and more about Yukinoshita Haruno.

Like a question from a differential calculus exam, Yukinoshita Haruno was incomprehensible.

Actually, that's not quite right – she was more like an open book, a novel with a seemingly simple premise, easy-to-read language, as well as a transparent plot and message. Take _The Little Prince_, for example. The story itself is fairly simple, and the language easy to read, but hidden beneath the deceptively easy story are messages that aren't easily as apparent. The fox makes it clear: _words are the source of misunderstanding, after all_. As such, it was easy to misunderstand the premise of the story.

Yukinoshita Haruno was the same: you _could_ see through her actions, but you can never be sure you were reading her right.

She certainly put up a façade, capable of getting along with everyone and anyone, but she never bothered to cover it up once someone saw through her disguise – as if taunting your understanding of her, she never went to any absurd lengths to protect her self-image. If anything, assuming you _understood_ her was dangerous, and she was quick to remind you of that simple fact.

_"You seem to understand everything, don't you, Hikigaya-kun?"_

A mocking declaration, as if to tell me I was completely off-base when it came to understanding her.

It was the same with classic literature – no matter how much you read, no matter how much you tried to understand _The Little Prince_, you could never be sure you completely understood everything. Someone else was liable to come up with a different reading of the novel, or different interpretations of the same scenes. You only had to look at the musical, which was more of a play, which Hina Ebina put up during our Cultural Festival.

Like words whose meaning were never truly set in stone, you could never _be _sure you understood someone. Words themselves have no stable meaning. The same goes for literature. Not even the author can claim complete control over the meaning of his works.

—even so, I want to understand completely.

Those were my selfish words, the words Yukinoshita Haruno denied and doubted entirely. Her evasive slyness, her easygoing, friendly façade; were any of these aspects of her truly genuine? Was there ever any hope of understanding her? Judging from her actions, I doubt she believed it was possible.

Why does Yukinoshita Haruno do the things she does? Why did she ask me the questions that she did?

I look back at the preparations of the Cultural Festival – how, in one smooth motion, Yukinoshita Haruno's sweet words burdened Yukinoshita Yukino even more.

I remembered her slyly observing Hayama Hayato's planned double date, and the teasing words she aimed at Yukinoshita Yukino to prompt her to action.

—_I mean, someone's always going to do it for you, right?_

What's running in the mind of Yukinoshita Haruno? Was she doing this all for the sake of her sister?

See, she proves the point I've been making all along – siblings are nothing more than strangers you're forced to spend time with. They're the closest strangers you're aware of, obviously – but even this close proximity meant little. It never assured you would understand each other completely.

It definitely wasn't the case for Yukinoshita Yukino, who certainly understood Haruno on a deeper level than most of us – but even she couldn't claim to understand her completely. Yukinoshita Yukino, whose brilliance dazzled many, whose intellect was unmatched in our school, was confused and stumped by the riddle known as Yukinoshita Haruno.

Which leads me to the question: is the same true for Yukinoshita Haruno, I wonder?

-0-

A/N: For those interested, this was initially the opening part of the new chapter. For those who are worried, don't be - this is vital set-up for the stuff I'm doing next chapter, for those who can already imagine what I have in store. Set up and all that. In retrospect, I probably should have started with this, since, well, you'll see. Apologies if I'm taking a long time getting the new chapter out, but I'm planning things out carefully. Are mini-chapters like this acceptable to everyone? I'm seeing a lot of potential with this in the future for what I intend to do.

Anyway, leave a review!


	7. Hikigaya and Kawasaki

A/N: I'm alive! Sorry for disappearing like that, real life got in the way. Anyway, let's go!

Story 3.2: **Kawasaki Saki **steps forward

In retrospect, the three of us deciding to play that card game was grossly out of character.

The _old_ Service Club was a club with a strict, definable pattern – Yukinoshita and I would sit at opposite ends of the room, reading our books in silence, waiting for Yuigahama's appearance to bring sound to the room. Yuigahama would bring the necessary noise in the room to create the illusion of conversation, prompting Yukinoshita and I to reply and correct her mistakes.

Yukinoshita and I were people who stuck to our own rhythm and did things at our own pace, so we rarely deviated from our everyday activities. In other words, we were content to do the same things every day, following the set patterns we had set for ourselves.

Still, Yuigahama was the outlier – constantly forcing us to do things we normally wouldn't do, dragging us to karaoke places, amusement parks, shopping malls, and the like. If I were to put it another way, Yuigahama was the 'chaotic force' that disrupted the stagnating club room. A closed-off room was peaceful but also stagnant – no energy could circulate in or out. If Yukinoshita and I were a Reality Marble, Yuigahama was the planet, breaking down our closed-off world.[1]

It was a simple reminder that we could not go on doing the same things forever – nothing was permanent.

The warmth circulating in this club room was not permanent.

The smell of warm tea permeating every inch of the room would fade away eventually.

_(…the warm sensation gripping my hands–)_

This was the second law of thermodynamics at work. In simple terms, you could call it entropy – the idea in which heat slowly escapes our bodies, never to be recovered. No matter how much you strive to recreate energy, you could never truly recapture it. Much like how you strived to recapture lost memories and lost time, it was impossible to recreate what has been lost.

Entropy was an irreversible, one-way street.

The warmth in this room would not remain forever.

For one, a truly sealed-off room would have no air circulating in it, which would undoubtedly kill anyone in it for lack of oxygen. As such, it was a necessity to establish contact with the outside world – windows, doors, and cracks in the wall. No matter how hard you worked at keeping a closed-off room to resist the outside world, sooner or later the world will force you to open up your enclosed space.

This also meant that things leaked out from inside the room. The warm sensation produced by our rusty heater, the smell of warm tea brewed for three, the voices emanating from within the room – they all ran the risk of escaping the confines of the room, no matter how much we tried to keep them inside. It was an unavoidable fact that, no matter how hard we tried to contain everything, things leak out into the outside world.

To put it simply, not even our club room could remain eternally warm. Its inhabitants, after all, will have to leave eventually, forced to allow the cold February winds to penetrate the room and erase all signs of our warmth and presence.

This was a natural process, of course. There is simply no reason to bemoan such a fact. Even our memories are fleeting, ephemeral, and bound to disappear one day. Everything we do during our precious high school days will disappear in the maze of adulthood, to be recalled only as shameful memories to be dredged up years later – events that could never truly be recaptured or replicated.

Even so–

"Am I bothering you guys?"

The warmth in this room will obviously disappear if someone opens the door without knocking.

"This… this doesn't look like a good time, so, uh, I'll just step outside, ok…?"

It's an unavoidable scientific law. Even someone as ignorant with the sciences as I am was aware of what happens when you open a closed-off room without warning.

Heat escapes the room, and the cold comes rushing in.

_(…even so, the warmth that permeates through the palm of our hands is_—_)_

"W-we're just playing a game, Saki-san!"

"P-please, don't mind us and come inside, Kawasaki-san."

"This isn't what it looks like, Kawasaki!"

Yuigahama, Yukinoshita, and I blurted out the cliché anime lines almost at the same time. At the very least, our words weren't the same – wouldn't that have been more embarrassing? All three of us turned towards the interloper, Kawasaki Saki, who had, without warning, opened the door in the middle of our card game.

Kawasaki replied by looking beyond us, her eyes fixed on the table where our cards lay. "Um, that's…it's kind of awkward to stay here, so I'll let you guys…finish whatever it is you guys are doing." Kawasaki was fidgeting, looking around the room to avoid looking directly at the three of us

What we're doing? Kawasaki-san, what exactly are you implying? We're not doing anything illegal here, you know? We're not gambling away our entire tuition fee or anything over a simple card game, you know?[2]

And really, Kawasaki's sudden entrance had made the room's temperature drop below acceptable levels. A chill wind enveloped our bodies as wind from the outside world rushed inside. I felt my bones shiver as coldness invaded my senses. The only thing that remained warm was—

—ah, the warm hands clasping my own.

In that moment, our personal Reality Marble came crashing down.

-0-

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked the visitor to our room.

Kawasaki was sitting in front of the three of us, like almost all of the Service Club's previous clients. Come to think of it, this was the first time Kawasaki was consulting us in person, huh?

She was seated properly now, her posture straight and upright. Her hands were resting atop her lap, covering her skirt from any unwarranted sightseers. Her shoulders were surprisingly svelte, instead of the broad and imposing image I had imagined most female delinquents possessed. She had her hair tied up neatly in a ponytail with very few stray strands of hair, instead of the lazy mess I had expected a female delinquent would have. Her uniform was surprisingly clean as well and well-maintained as well. The only thing that hinted at messiness was the top button of her shirt being undone, giving me access to what was hidden beneath it, but I didn't look. Not at all.

She took a deep breath, causing her chest to contract and expand. I could faintly make out the outlines of her chest struggling against her shirt, and I shifted my eyes away, hoping that my companions wouldn't notice. To my relief, Yuigahama was focused on gently looking at Kawasaki, awaiting her words. Yukinoshita, on the other hand, was busy burying daggers into Kawasaki with her eyes. Well, that was her default look towards everyone, so it didn't matter.

"…it's a personal matter." Kawasaki finally muttered.

"You keep saying it's none of our business, but we would be finished with this business if you just came out and said it," Yukinoshita replied.

"I keep telling you people, it doesn't involve your club!" Kawasaki hastily replied. "Why do you have to make things so complicated?"

"Ah, Saki-san, don't mind Yukino, she can be a little harsh…h-haha…" Yuigahama intervened, as Kawasaki was becoming more and more angry. "Look, we want to help as best we can, ok? Hikki's problems are just as much ours."

"Why do you make it sound like I can't do anything on my own?" I add, as I glare towards Yuigahama, who was blowing me a raspberry. Now isn't exactly the time to act like a kid, you know.

"It's certainly true that Hikigaya-kun is the type of person who would find himself in over his head when confronting a problem." Yukinoshita added to the conversation. "Unfortunately, he's also the kind of person who would refuse to seek out anyone's help until it's too late."

"I-I don't think I can refute that statement…"

Kawasaki followed our banter, before coughing again to grab our attention.

"I really don't want to talk about this in strangers…but it certainly does involve Hikigaya and me." Kawasaki sighed. She scratched her head in annoyance as her posture relaxed. "Hikigaya, do you know what time your sister gets home tonight?"

At the mention of "sister", my ears perked up.

"Huh? Why are you interested in Komachi?" I asked, as my eyes narrowed even further. I had hoped that my threatening eyes would ferret out more information from Kawasaki. Unfortunately, she must have had her defenses up after being threatened by Yukinoshita's icy looks, as my narrowed eyes had no effect. "She usually gets home a little later than me."

"That's 'coz she's hanging out with her friends, isn't she?" Yuigahama added innocently.

Still, her innocent remark was like an arrow straight to the heart…! "T-that's certainly true, but the way you put it kind of pisses me off, Yuigahama."

"We certainly can't help it if Komachi-san is well-adjusted compared to Hikigaya-kun…" Yukinoshita sighed in sadness as she compared Komachi's social life with mine. I get it, I'm a disgrace compared to my sister, but did you really have to twist the knife even more?

"Look, just humor me here. Can you call your sister and ask her what time she gets home tonight?" Kawasaki insisted, placing her hands on the table. Outside, the sun was setting, and the sports teams were wrapping up their practice sessions. Outside our school, students all over Chiba were already making their daily commute home, or to some other popular place for students to hang out in. Somewhere out there, Komachi was loitering around with her friends.

"Alright, alright…" I replied. I took out my rarely used smartphone and searched for Komachi's number. My list of contacts was incredibly small in the first place, so it basically took no time to find Komachi's name. After a few rings, I heard that distinctive voice I knew all too well emanate from my phone.

"Yahallo! This is Komachi speaking." The voice at the other end of the line was unreasonably cheery. In the background, I could hear the murmurs of people, indicating that she was at some random mall with lots of people passing by.

"Komachi, you know it's me, you have my contacts saved." I berated her inability to greet her brother properly.

"N-no way?! My trashy brother actually bothered calling me for once? U-unbelievable! Has my poor, pathetic, idiot brother finally learned how to use his phone for more than just mobile games with 2D anime women?" Komachi's mock-surprise tone was surprisingly annoying, huh. "No way! You've never used your phone to call me ever, so I deleted you from my contact list!"

"Dumbass, we text each other all the time. Don't delete my number from your contacts, what if there's an emergency?"

"That's not a problem, your contact details are all saved in your lil' sister's heart! Oh, I'm sure that earned me a lot of Komachi points!"

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure it did. Look, where are you right now?"

"Um, I'm at a nearby bookstore with some of my friends. We're looking for reference books and extra preparatory material for exams. I'll be home a little bit later than usual, I think! Don't worry about lil' ol' me and have a good time yourself, bro!"

"Alright, got it."

"Wait, why are you ask-"

I ended the call right there before Komachi could add anything else to the conversation. I sent Komachi a short text saying "No reason," before placing my phone inside my pocket.

I looked at Kawasaki and said, "She's with her friends. She's gonna be late."

Kawasaki made a strained face at my statement, as if staring at me in disbelief. If I could read her face right now, it would definitely say "Huhhhhh, are you suuuuure? You don't sound suuuure, you knoooooooooow?"

"It's probably nothing serious, but… I've been looking through Taishi's messages lately." Kawasaki began.

"That sounds incredibly intrusive." I tell her, groaning inwardly. "There's some things you can't do, even if you're siblings, you know."

"Huh? What kind of older sister doesn't look out for her younger siblings?" Kawasaki fired back, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Tch, this damn brocon…

"W-wow, I didn't know Saki-san cared about her siblings this much…" Yuigahama said, her eyes sparkling in admiration.

Oh, that's right. Yuigahama probably wasn't familiar with Kawasaki's interactions with her siblings, outside that one case with Taishi. She probably doesn't know how much Kawasaki dotes on her younger brother Taishi, or how the only time she smiles is when she's texting him or watching over her sister Keika when she gets up on stage and performs as an angel. That was just the kind of person Kawasaki Saki was.

Come to think of it, I was probably the only one aware of Kawasaki's close ties with her siblings, huh?

"I-it's only natural," Kawasaki stuttered, her cheeks flushed red. "What kind of elder sister would I be if I didn't worry about what my younger brother is up to?"

"I believe in respecting the privacy of my sister." I tell Kawasaki. "We're both incredibly private people, and besides, just because we're siblings doesn't mean we're obligated to look out for each other."

"I have to agree with Hikigaya-kun." Yukinoshita added. "Perhaps you find such behavior acceptable, but to me such intrusion into my personal business is disagreeable. If I found my own sister ruffling through my mails, I probably would be annoyed, even angered."

Somehow, I could imagine Yukinoshita Haruno surreptitiously stealing Yukinoshita's phones and sending out joke messages to Yukinoshita's acquaintances, just to shock them. _On the other hand, does Yukinoshita even have anyone in her contact list besides Yuigahama and her family?_

"What, and _this_ isn't being intrusive? This is a family thing and you're butting in." Kawasaki angrily replied.

"This and that are two different matters." Yukinoshita swiftly fired back, crossing her arms. I could see the sparks of electricity emanating from their eyes, clashing in mid-air, producing powerful, imaginary crackles of power.

"N-now…" Yuigahama immediately intervened. "So, Saki-san, what's this about your brother?"

"I was getting to that." Kawasaki coughed. "So, I was reading through Taishi's mails last night and I found an unfamiliar name and e-mail address. So I read through the messages."

I felt my heart beat faster as cold sweat broke out throughout my body. Everything suddenly clicked into place – why Kawasaki sought me out specifically, why she asked me where Komachi was, why she was so insistent not to involve Yuigahama and Yukinoshita.

"Kawasaki." I managed to cough out. "This unfamiliar name - was it Komachi?"

"There was a different name registered," Kawasaki explained. "I wasn't sure at first who it was, so I asked Taishi."

"Huh?! You just asked your brother?!" Yuigahama exclaimed. "But, like, aren't you poking around his love life?"

"Not necessarily," I corrected Yuigahama. "Kawasaki could easily have phrased it in a lot of ways so it doesn't sound like she's snooping around. For example, she could pass it off as a joke. Let's say she grabs her brother's phone while he's playing around with it. She could use that as a chance to ask him who he's busy messaging."

I grinned as I gave them my sage advice, learned through years of loner training. As someone who rarely received texts, I had mastered the art of text messaging by messing with my sister's phone and reading through the list of contacts to make fun of her, mocking her incessantly for being a social butterfly instead of a superior loner like myself. What's thaaaaat? You and X-chan have a problem with Y-kun? What a paaaaain! Take it from me, putting up with all these social niceties is just a pain! No waaaaay, is Z-chan crushing on A-kun, but A-kun likes B-chan better? That's cute! Really cute!

Komachi's inbox was filled to the brim with frustrated classmates and friends pouring out their concerns for her. At one point I had wondered if this was an advanced form of bullying, but Komachi brushed it off as her natural friendliness. From an outsider's perspective, though, she was basically the dumping ground for everyone's problems - and everyone looked up to her as someone who could give them advice. In that regard, my sister was a dependable person.

"Hikigaya-kun." Yukinoshita suddenly spoke up, breaking me out of my monologue. "Suddenly, my respect for Komachi-san has increased dramatically. She must be a saint to be able to put up with your antics."

"Ugh...Hikki's the worst. Hasn't anyone told you a girl's cellphone is more important than her life?" Yuigahama added. Wait, where did that saying come from?

"I wouldn't sink _that _low." Kawasaki rebuked. She was grimacing now, looking at me like some kind of pathetic bug. "I just asked Taishi about it and said it was a friend."

"But you don't believe it. You think Komachi's involved." I said. "Otherwise, why seek me out?"

Kawasaki suddenly stiffened, her cheeks faintly turning red as she straightened her posture again and looked at all three of us. "Y-yeah... that's why I wanted to talk to you. No other reason..." She turned away from all three of us, her shoulders fidgeting nervously.

"I understand." Yukinoshita nodded, her cold gaze aimed at Kawasaki finally weakening. "So this is why you wish to enlist Hikigaya-kun's help. But still, why do you think it's Komachi your brother is secretly messaging? Why would he go to such lengths to hide any relationship with Hikigaya-kun's sister?"

As always, Yukinoshita's calm, rational logic was flawless. Nevertheless, she was sorely lacking in data - after all, she had no idea how much time Komachi and Taishi spend together. After all, she wasn't aware of the secret plan to support Isshiki Iroha's presidency, which was spearheaded by Komachi with Taishi's help.

"...Taishi doesn't have a lot of female friends." Kawasaki mentioned under her breath. "And I could tell the person he was texting was a girl, since it sounds different from when he talks to his male friends."

Kawasaki was trembling now, as if she was letting out a torrent of emotions held in check. "I'm just... I don't want Taishi to jump into these things unprepared. He still has to prepare for high school entrance exams, and a relationship at this point might mess with his studies. You know how much stress those kids go through when trying to get into high school."

I knew all too well what Kawasaki was talking about - Komachi, after all, was undergoing the same problems. Acquaintances and groups of friends were fractured and split apart by the pressure of academic performance, and nowhere was this more obvious than what kind of high schools students got into. If you were unlucky, and were the only kid in your class to get into a fairly good high school, while the rest would remain together, it was likely that you were going to be ostracized. And if in a group of friends, you alone would fail an entrance exam, things would be awkward- your friends would be celebrating while you wallowed in your anger and disappointment.

For someone like me, who chose this high school precisely to get away from my middle school past, it was no big deal - I could handle being ostracized and set apart. How different was it from normal? But for Komachi, it was a terrifying web of social gymnastics - the pressure to do your best and get into a good school, but at the same time avoiding hurting anyone else's feelings. You tried your best, but at the same time avoided standing out too much. If you stood out too much, you would be hated; if you slacked off too much, you would be left behind.

In many ways, striving to keep with your group was more difficult than going at it alone.

Unsurprisingly, Kawasaki worried about these practical things. She obviously wanted the best for Taishi - but it was difficult to tell what _was _best for Taishi. Hence her dilemma.

"I just... I just want to know what Taishi is thinking. I want to know if your sister's a good influence on my brother."

Like any good older sibling, Kawasaki Saki desperately wanted to understand Kawasaki Taishi.

After all, you weren't guaranteed complete and utter understanding of someone, just because you were siblings.

And so, I had to respond in kind.

"Heh. I don't like how you phrase that." I let out an arrogant chuckle. "If anything, I should be asking you that. Is your brother worthy of my sister?"

I sneer at Kawasaki, who replied by shaking off her nervousness and fear and glaring at me. "Huh? What was that? Were you shittalking my brother?"

As expected, that damn brocon reacted defensively.

"Uh, so basically," Yuigahama interjected, "you just want to make sure Komachi-chan and Taishi-kun aren't doing anything...wrong, right? And that it isn't interfering with their preparation for entrance exams."

"Pretty much, yeah." Kawasaki replied. "I want to get this guy to help me follow those two around today and see what they're up to. According to the mails I read they're supposed to meet up today somewhere near the school they're attending."

"I see." I reply. "It is unusual for Komachi to come home late. And if what you say is true, then she's already lying to me. Kuh, that damn Taishi, teaching my little sister to lie to her beloved older brother..."

"Gross, Hikki..." Yuigahama frowned. Yukinoshita sighed and placed her fingers against her forehead, in anticipation of an oncoming migraine.

"Stop saying that stuff about my brother!" Kawasaki angrily replied. Seriously, your responses are getting a little too predictable there, Kawasaki.

-0-

Ultimately, we agreed that the best course of action was to stalk- I mean, silently observe Taishi and Komachi's meeting. Thankfully, the place those two were meeting at was a fairly conspicuous spot, a somewhat low-key family restaurant - there was a cafe across it where we could hide and keep a low profile, and as long as we were careful we wouldn't be spotted.

For our little stakeout to succeed, however, we needed to cut down on personnel. That's why one-man sneaking missions are popular. Isn't that right, Snake?

Because Yuigahama and Yukinoshita had no personal stake in this incident, they were automatically ruled out of the sneaking mission. Furthermore, one guy sitting alone in a cafe was rather suspect, especially for someone who looked as shifty as me, so Kawasaki was to come along.

At least, that was how I understood Kawasaki's intentions for her strange request.

We agreed on meeting at the entrance of the school in thirty minutes - because we were in a hurry, Kawasaki (at my insistence) would call a cab. This was the second day in a row I was rushing someplace else using a taxi, although this time I was paying for it. Somehow, it feels like I've been rushing all over the place these days...

After I helped Yuigahama and Yukinoshita clean up, I separated from them at the entrance of the school and met up with Kawasaki, who had already hailed a cab. We gave the directions at the driver, entered the car, and sat at opposite sides of the cab in silence.

That was when I realized just how ludicrous this entire scenario was.

"Hey, Kawasaki."

"What?"

"Why didn't you just approach me in class, instead of going to the clubroom?"

If she just wanted to talk to me, there was no reason to drag the Service Club into it. Sure, Yukinoshita browbeat Kawasaki into turning it into an official club request, but she could have just talked to me before I headed to club, or in between periods, or something else entirely. Considering how much she complained about Yukinoshita being pushy, she could have avoided it entirely by not going to the clubroom.

"...didn't know what to say..."

"Huh?"

"I didn't know what to say," Kawasaki whispered in a low voice. "When I first approached you at lunch I had an entire speech planned out and everything, so I wouldn't forget what to say."

I tilted my head towards her. I felt like someone out of a Shaft anime. "What do you mean? A speech?"

Kawasaki lowered her head. "I was," she began to say, before her voice trailed off. "I was... when I realized I had to talk to Yuigahama and Yukinoshita as well, I froze up. Forgot my entire spiel. So I kept babbling the same things, over and over."

I narrowed my gaze. "What does that have do with anything?"

"I don't know!" Kawasaki suddenly blurted out. "I had my entire proposal laid out in my head, but when I saw you with the two of them my brain just froze up." Her face began turning a deep shade of crimson. I could feel her radiate extreme warmth from her cheeks, resisting the despair of the cold atmosphere outside the car we were riding in. "I wanted to approach you after class, but instead of waiting for everyone to leave you slipped out of the room so fast!"

"Slipped out of the room...?" It's true that, up until recently, I always pretended to be asleep after class ended, if only so I could be one of the last students to leave the classroom. There really wasn't any reason for me to stay unless I had classroom duty, but I didn't have anything to do either, so I didn't bother rushing out of the classroom.

"I tried to follow you, but when I caught up with you, you were already walking with Yuigahama, so..."

My eyes widened at her comment Crap, she noticed I was walking with Yuigahama? This was bad for her social standing in our class…

"Yeah…Kawasaki, I'd like it if you didn't mention stuff like that to anyone else," I murmured, rubbing the side of my nose to stamp out a persistent itch. "There's…there's really no reason for you to feel all weird or anything if you see us walking together, since we're in the same club. It would be especially bad for Yuigahama if anyone noticed we're spending a lot of time together, so…"

Kawasaki cocked her eyes at me, staring quizzically at me like I said something outrageous. "I really don't think you're tricking anyone. Everyone knows you and Yuigahama spend a lot of time together with Yukinoshita."

_(…even so, the warmth that permeates the palm of our hands is_—_)_

"Is that so." I replied, without a hint of emotion in my voice. Silence reigned between us for a few minutes.

"…I guess I'm jealous." Kawasaki suddenly blurted, after a few uncomfortable moments of silence. "At first I thought you were just as bad as I was at interacting with other people, but then you get along so well with Yuigahama and Yukinoshita. Whenever I see you with them you seem more…relaxed, for lack of a better word. Barring all the weird stuff last Christmas, you guys definitely don't act like complete strangers."

_I thought you were someone like me_, her words screamed out from a hidden place in her heart.

It was a common mistake, one that I was prone to making all the time. Human beings were creatures who tended to connect events and incidents that seemingly had no connections, and forced them together to form coherent narratives. Human beings, too, interact with other people by imposing their prejudices and expectations upon another person.

But that wasn't the case, was it? The only person you only ever truly understand completely is yourself. As such, when interacting with other people, you gain an understanding of them by contrasting them with your own – "Ah, this person's character is completely different from mine," or "Ah, this person's character is similar to mine." From such early judgments you form your understanding of a person, and your decision of whether or not you chose to associate with them. In other words, you judge other people at first glance by seeing if you have bits of your personality in them or not.

But that's a horrendously arrogant thing to do, isn't it? For humans to impose their own value-judgments on other people and expect them to live up to it or risk disappointing the perceiver is a terrible thing.

And so, Kawasaki Saki thought we were fundamentally similar people. Maybe I thought the same, too. After all, we had similar circumstances – siblings we cared about, difficulty interacting with our classmates, a natural aura that repelled most people. That was probably why, even after all this time, we managed to hold conversations, despite having no interest in each other – because, in our arrogance, we believed there was something common between us. It was something that I was increasingly learning was not true with anyone I had ever interacted with.

"You're overthinking things," I tell Kawasaki. "I'm not that close with Yukinoshita and Yuigahama. If anything, we're finding out just how little we know about each other."

Kawasaki narrowed her eyes even further, but loosened her tight gaze and let out a weary smile. "I just think you're lucky, is all. You have your sister, and you have your club. From what I can tell, you guys are tight." She sighed and scratched the side of her head, for one moment looking like the delinquent her image suggested. "All I have are my siblings, and recently I feel like I'm losing touch with 'em. Taishi, especially."

"So you think you don't understand Taishi at all anymore?"

"Pretty much, yeah. I know that's part of growing up, but it's frustrating to me. I thought that if there was anything I could rely on, it was that I could always be close with Taishi, talk to him when I'm feeling down, or that he'll do the same, but now he's keeping secrets from me and he doesn't tell me if anything's wrong or if he's having trouble with studies." Kawasaki lowered her head and gripped the hem of her skirt. "And now I'm feeling all helpless about it, so I reach out to get you because I thought you would understand, since we're in similar circumstances. Pathetic, huh?"

_I just want to understand_, Kawasaki was screaming inside.

Just because you were siblings didn't mean your relationship was anything special. The bond between siblings does not necessarily become stronger just because of blood ties. If anything, it's even more frustrating when you fail to understand your brother or your sister, because common sense dictates you should know family, at the very least.

Kawasaki Saki wanted to understand Kawasaki Taishi.

Out of the blue, I suddenly thought of an elder sister, elsewhere, with a younger sister she relentlessly bullied and doted on. Now, why did I suddenly think of her?

"…I understand." I finally blurt out. "It isn't pathetic at all, Kawasaki. If anything, it's admirable that you want to do this."

Kawasaki stiffened, her face reddening as she processed my words.

"I-I… you…" Her words came out in halted stutters. In response, I looked out my side of the car window to create distance and silence. Outside, the world was in constant movement, a barrage of scenes that appeared in one second and disappeared in the next. Fleeting, rapid images. Things that were seen in one moment and lost to time the next, never to be recovered again. Like the world outside, the words that should have been uttered were lost to the passage of time, like the view from a speeding car.

"…can't believe I'm telling Hikigaya-kun all of this." Kawasaki finally blurted out, as we spent the rest of the ride in silence.

-0-

Once we arrived at our destination, Kawasaki immediately zeroed in on the best table in a café – one that had a good view of the restaurant that Komachi and Taishi were meeting in. In retrospect, it was a dumb idea, as it was blatantly obvious that we could be seen from our position, but I didn't have the heart to tell Kawasaki otherwise, who was now in full brocon mode.

We waited in silence, me sipping my MAX Coffee and Kawasaki tapping her fingers against the table over and over again, producing a rhythm that I found somewhat soothing amidst the buzz of the crowds walking past our location. The café we were in was located across the street from where the restaurant was, and every now and then cars would speed by to obstruct our view. Housewives passed by as well, clutching that night's dinner in a plastic bag. Groups of middle school kids would walk past us, gossiping about the latest news or TV show they were watching. Sweaty kids heading home from soccer or baseball practice would run past us, bumping into groups of high school couples, who screamed at the kids for not being careful.

In other words, this was a regular, after-school scene.

Or, at least, I assumed, this _was_ – I never had the chance to live out this kind of life, after all.

Kawasaki's incessant tapping immediately stopped when I realized a certain pair of middle school students making their way to the restaurant.

There was also no denying the fact that the two were holding hands.

Almost immediately, the person beside me sprang into action and got out of her seat. I had no choice but to follow. Conflicting emotions welled up from inside my heart, unsure of how to react to the scene that had appeared in front of us. Kawasaki's face also betrayed the maelstrom of emotions engulfing her – her eyes were trembling as if on the verge of tears and her breathing became shallow and quick.

Perhaps, by instinct, Kawasaki grabbed my hands to drag me after her, not that I needed to be dragged. As we rushed our way across the street, ignoring the potential cars crossing the street, I could not help but note the cold, clammy feeling engulfing my left hand. Kawasaki had broken out into a cold sweat.

I looked at Kawasaki again, whose face was now a mixture of despair and confusion. She threw a short glance at me, and her face looked as if it was contorted in pain and ignorance, as if to say _I don't know what I'm doing_. Kawasaki, in other words, was doing things out of the onrush of emotions that welled up inside her.

"Please help me, Hikigaya-kun."

Kawasaki managed to blurt out. I had no response but to nod.

When we finally crossed the street, I confirmed with my own eyes what we had seen from afar – my sister, Komachi, and Kawasaki's brother, Taishi, were together. My eyes zeroed in on the two middle school students' hands, and confirmed that the two were holding hands. I looked again at Komachi, who looked as if she was shocked at our appearance. Taishi's face betrayed the same look, one that screamed _What are they doing here? _for all the world to see.

Like so many times today, an uncomfortable silence surrounded the four of us – Kawasaki and me on one side and Komachi and Taishi on the other. Kawasaki was slowly catching her breath, swallowing as much air as possible to reinforce her weakened lungs. I decided it was more prudent to stay behind and allow Kawasaki to speak first, as it was her request in the first place, and I was simply there to assist.

"T-Taishi… what are you doing here?" Kawasaki finally managed to blurt out.

Taishi's response was to turn his head away, with a look of guilt breaking out on his face. He gritted his teeth, unable to say anything, and from my vantage point I could see his hands tremble, nestled in Komachi's own.

"Ah, Saki-san…" Komachi began to explain in Taishi's stead. "This isn't, this isn't what it looks li-"

"It definitely looks like something to me!" Kawasaki almost screamed. I could feel the eyes of people around us, focusing on the scene that was unfolding in front of the family restaurant. "Taishi, didn't I ask you where you were going today?"

"I-I did…" Taishi managed to stutter out, but Kawasaki immediately cut him off.

"You _lied _to me! You said you were with your friends, but now you're with _her_?"

I wanted to cut Kawasaki off – no matter how she felt, the way she phrased her sentence seems to imply she despised the very idea of Komachi's existence. Still, a part of me felt as if I understood where Kawasaki's rage was coming from. She had explained as much to me, on the way here. At its core, Kawasaki was simply looking out for Taishi, in her own, messed up way – it was just that she was terrible at expressing herself to her younger brother. Hadn't she admitted it herself? She was having a hard time connecting with her siblings. Even now, everything she had planned out, the script she undoubtedly had in her head, the speeches she probably had planned out: everything was discarded in the face of sheer, unbridled emotion sweeping her away.

Kawasaki Saki was a clumsy girl who had no idea how to talk to people. If there's any character assessment I could give of her that was it. She acted the same way when she first approached us at lunchtime, after all. This was a person who, when unsure of how to act, allowed her emotions to take control of her, as opposed to whatever she had planned out beforehand.

Such a thing was dangerous, because in the heat of the moment things could be said that could never be left unsaid. If Kawasaki was not careful, she could end up saying things that would make Taishi despise her forever.

…ah, this is perhaps where I should step in, huh?

This was familiar territory for me, after all. Kawasaki Saki could not risk being hated by Kawasaki Taishi. After all, he and his siblings were all she had in her world. For them to hate her would mean Kawasaki losing everything keeping her going.

I wasn't a weak person like that. After all, I've survived being alone all this time.

"Kawasaki."

My voice adopted a strange, almost unearthly tone, as if it was someone else's entirely. In response, Kawasaki stopped trembling and glanced at me, her eyes betraying the confusion that no doubt she was feeling right now. _What is he doing?_ she probably would have asked, if she could have talked. Of course, I didn't want her to ruin my momentum, so I immediately continued talking.

"I want to talk to my _little sister _here."

I felt my lips curl into a disgusting, arrogant smirk, like that of a certain mischievous person I had known for a while. I could almost imagine myself, looking as if I was some know-it-all sage who knew everything but revealed nothing, as I took a step forward and cast a glance towards Komachi and Taishi. My heart began to beat quickly, as the stream of words emerged from my mouth, words that I knew were coming from me but I could barely recognize.

"Komachi."

"Y-yes, onii-san?"

Komachi's voice was unusually low, the complete opposite of the usual tone she adopts whenever she talks to me. For perhaps the first time in our sibling-like relationship, she was showing signs of fear, realizing that I was definitely the elder in our relationship.

"Why are you with _this piece of trash?"_

"Hikigaya, you…" Kawasaki blurted out, almost on instinct, but I continued talking.

"I called you earlier, didn't I?" I began, my voice becoming more and more pompous by the second. Around me, people had taken an interest in our conversation, even though many of them pretended they were not listening. No matter. If they wanted to watch, they would see Hikigaya Hachiman's greatest performance, one that would put a certain ice queen's sister to shame. "I asked you where you were going. You told me you were with _friends_. You told me you were preparing for your exams. And I find you with _this moron?"_

Komachi's face was a mixture of horror and disgust at the words I let out. I ignored the sharp pain in my chest and continued. "I mean, I wouldn't have minded, if it was someone respectable, but the only thing this kid's ever done is run to you whenever he has problems, imposing his selfish burdens on you. Do you really think I'd approve of someone like him?" I let out a dry, sardonic chuckle, one that I had mastered over the years of being a loner. It was the kind of laugh that annoyed people off, because of the aura of condescension that it unleashed.

"Onii-san, you…" Kawasaki Taishi began to say, only for Komachi to throw him a sharp glance, immediately shutting him up. Tch, this damn brat, still insisting on calling me onii-san…!

Komachi, in response to what I had said, removed her hand from Taishi's and faced me head on. Her eyes were now looking straight at me, burning with determination. She bit her lip, which was trembling in either pain or anger, and she had curled her fists as well. If she wanted to cry, the feeling of anger that was inside her was stronger, as she looked as if she was successful at holding back the tears.

After almost an eternity, she opened her mouth, sucking in all the air she could, and screamed:

"I hate you, Onii-chan! You stupid moron!"

Immediately, she aimed a slap at my face.

As I reeled from the pain, she turned around and ran away.

To the side, Kawasaki Saki and Kawasaki Taishi looked on, dumbfounded.

For my part, I couldn't say anything. I thought that, when push came to shove, my resolve would be enough, but the sight of Komachi's pained face sent chills up my spine. Did I, perhaps, make a mistake?

As the sting from Komachi's slap slowly faded away, a solitary thought entered my brain: _is this what it feels like, Yukinoshita Haruno?_

-0-

A/N: Sorry for bailing on everyone! Real life got in the way. But I haven't forgotten about this fic! I'm overflowing with ideas and I don't even know if they all fit the schema of this story, so don't be surprised if I pull out one-shots in the future.

Anyway, leave a review!

* * *

[1] Reality Marbles are essentially a projection of the caster's inner world – and this is seen as a contradiction by the planet, who seeks to forcibly break down aberrations to the world.

[2] The plot of _Kakegurui_ involves a seemingly insane student who participates in high-stakes betting games sponsored by their school


	8. Siblings

A/N: Writing new chapters takes so long! Especially thanks to real life getting in the way, and my own, self-imposed desire to ensure each chapter's quality is as good as it can be. I suppose this is my roundabout, twisted apology for taking so long in between chapters to update.

Oh, and the way I interpret Iroha's character might be strange, but hey, anything to differentiate my characterization from all the other stories out there on Iroha, I always say. Anyway, let's go!

Story 3.3: **Siblings** ought to be psychic, if only to avoid future conflicts

Let's turn back the clock.

Picture the scene: _We waited in silence, me sipping my MAX Coffee and Kawasaki tapping her fingers against the table over and over again, producing a rhythm that I found somewhat soothing amidst the buzz of the crowds walking past our location. The café we were in was located across the street from where the restaurant was, and every now and then cars would speed by to obstruct our view. Housewives passed by as well, clutching that night's dinner in a plastic bag. Groups of middle school kids would walk past us, gossiping about the latest news or TV show they were watching. Sweaty kids heading home from soccer or baseball practice would run past us, bumping into groups of high school couples, who screamed at the kids for not being careful._

Now, before I describe this scene as a regular, after-school scene, imagine that, from the corner of my eye, I spot two middle-school students walking side by side. Unlike the scene that will come in a few moments (or, from my present perspective, an hour ago), the two are walking somewhat far apart. The boy has a nervous, sweaty face, as if unsure of what was about to transpire, and the girl, far from being her cheery, excitable self, took on a mask of determination, betraying her desire to see things through. The two are walking slowly, few words passing between the two of them – they look more like soldiers going to war, or a group walking towards the scene of an upcoming heist. Needless to say, they obviously had something planned out, something they had prepared for in excruciating detail, and were now in the process of enacting said plan. I trained my eyes on the two of them as they came into view, and, at the critical moment, before the girl could notice my present, I immediately avert my pupils and make sure _she_ doesn't make eye contact with _me._

Now, continue the scene:

_Or, at least, I assumed, this was – I never had the chance to live out this kind of life, after all._

_Kawasaki's incessant tapping immediately stopped when I realized a certain pair of middle school students making their way to the restaurant._

_There was also no denying the fact that the two were holding hands._

Now, the perspective is definitely skewed – when they came into the collective viewpoints of Kawasaki Saki and Hikigaya Hachiman, they were definitely holding hands.

Let us assume, however, that I am still keeping an eye on the pair from the corner of my own personal vantage point, one that Kawasaki is not privy to. From my own viewpoint, the girl seems to react to our presence – she immediately tugs at the boy's sleeves, surprising him out of his nervouce trance – and leans in to whisper something in his ears. The boy tenses up but manages to give a small nod. In response to this, the girl's hands gingerly make their way towards the boy's, two sets of hands awkwardly seeking space in between each other's. There is no sign of warmth or tenderness, only the cold impulse of necessity, and anyone who was thinking rationally could see that the two hands grasping each other were awkward in each other's lodgings. Hell, from my vantage point, it looked like they were barely touching each other.

Before I can react accordingly, however, _the person beside me sprang into action and got out of her seat. I had no choice but to follow. Conflicting emotions welled up from inside my heart, unsure of how to react to the scene that had appeared in front of us. _I turned to look at Kawasaki and tell her to stop running, but_ Kawasaki's face also betrayed the maelstrom of emotions engulfing her – her eyes were trembling as if on the verge of tears and her breathing became shallow and quick._

_Perhaps, by instinct, Kawasaki grabbed my hands to drag me after her, not that I needed to be dragged. As we rushed our way across the street, ignoring the potential cars crossing the street, I could not help but note the cold, clammy feeling engulfing my left hand_, undoubtedly the same kind of sensations the boy and the girl I was looking at felt at that exact same moment_. Kawasaki had broken out into a cold sweat._

_I looked at Kawasaki again, whose face was now a mixture of despair and confusion. _I wanted to say something to calm her down, but _she threw a short glance at me, and her face looked as if it was contorted in pain and ignorance, as if to say I don't know what I'm doing. Kawasaki, in other words, was doing things out of the onrush of emotions that welled up inside her._

_"Please help me, Hikigaya-kun." Kawasaki managed to blurt out, _and I had no choice but to play along with this farce.

**-0-**

"Okay, so let me get this straight, Senpai," The underclassman in front of me interjected, just as I was describing the actual incident she had managed to witness. She let out a loud, disgruntled, grumpy sigh which was totally odds with the image she was trying to present on the outside – it completely clashed with the cutesy, polite façade she had adopted while talking to the person manning the cashier, as well as the waiter when we placed our orders.

Before continuing, she took a sip of her juice. "So what you're telling me is that you knew what was happening, guessed what your little sister was up to, and decided the smartest thing to do _was piss everyone off?_"

All throughout my story, the girl alternated between playing on her phone (or probably texting a friend, maybe?) and paying lip service to me, giving out the polite keywords needed to indicate that she was paying the proper modicum of etiquette required of these kinds of conversations. One glance at her betrayed nothing – on the outside, she was a fairly typical, if exceedingly cute, high school student who religiously kept up with all the fashion trends, performed all the typical activities of an exceedingly cute high school student with her other friends and led a very normal high school life with no complications whatsoever.

However you felt about Isshiki Iroha, there was no denying that she was exceedingly cute. Even if her personality was rotten and she was as sly as a fox, there was no denying that from the outside, she was a very attractive underclassman of mine.

…which is why to hear her say exceedingly rude words distressed me a little bit.

"You know, you shouldn't really be using that kind of language in front of your seniors." I chastise her. I take a sip of the coffee I ordered, and truth be told, it wasn't that bad. It seems this family restaurant's coffee was somewhat sweeter than what you expected out of coffee, which I definitely appreciated.

"I really don't want to hear that from Senpai, considering all the things you blurted out earlier," Isshiki replied in a deadpan voice as she rolled her eyes at me. "Seriously, you sounded like one of those old-timey gangsters, y'know?"

"One might say that I _am _one, considering my reputation at school."

"Oh, but your reputation's changed nowadays. Sometimes you're 'the Student Council's lapdog' or 'Yukinoshita-senpai's sla-"

"Okay, I don't want to hear anymore," I told Isshiki, before she uttered anything unsavory for the rest of the patrons to hear. Seriously, I know high school girls have a reputation for having foul mouths and rude gestures nowadays, but it was distressing to see it come out of someone as angelic-looking as Irohasu! "Besides, should you really be telling me all of this? Haven't you considered my feelings?"

"Come oooon, Senpai," Isshiki replied, as she placed her exceedingly cutesy and overly-decorated phone on the table with a weak slam. "I know you're not dumb. You know what they talk about you behind your back." I had no reply to that one. Like me, Isshiki was apparently used to people gossiping when they thought we couldn't hear them.

Just as she had finished her sentence, the waiter assigned to our table approached us and asked if there was anything else that we needed. Iroha's response was uncanny in how fast she switched gears, as she immediately replied "No thanks! We're fine here! Tee-hee ~!" No, don't ask me how she managed to enunciate heart symbols in speech – just take it from me that she managed it.

"It's scary how fast you change your speech patterns," I told her when the waiter left.

"Huh? You do it all the time, senpai." Isshiki replied.

"Wait, are you serious? I talk the same wherever I go."

"Oh, _please_, Senpai. You talk differently when you're at the Service Club than when you're with a lot of other people." Isshiki replied. "You're way more, what's the word, reserved? When you're not feeling comfortable where you are."

"Isn't that true for most people?" I asked Isshiki. "You probably have more experience being in unfamiliar situations than me, so you should know how it feels to be out of your comfort zone."

"That's a weird way to put it," Isshiki replied with a scowl. "You make it sound like I go to all kinds of weird places, Senpai. Is that what you think of me as, some kind of weirdo mingling with the weird crowds?"

"Well, you _do _spend time with me…"

"This and that are different!" Isshiki whined. "Besides, you're just twisting my words. What I mean is, you try to come across as angry and snarl at everyone, but that's _so_ not like you!"

"Why are you making it sound like I'm just pretending to be angry at everyone…?"

"Well, aren't you?"

"I wouldn't say that. I just don't like most people, is all. Isn't that the normal reaction when you're around a bunch of people you don't like?"

"_I _don't do that. I just smile and nod and look pretty until they go away or get tired of talking to me."

Scary, Irohasu! Scary! Please don't smile when you say that, you make me think you're going to murder someone! "Still, to candidly say this to me… you don't seem to care about your reputation in front of me."

"What's the point?" Isshiki pouted. "I can only act this way around you and Hayama-senpai."

"Speaking of, how's things between you two?"

"Let's not talk about that." She smiles, her face a beacon of cheerfulness, but I can sense the killing intent seeping out from underneath the mask covering her face. The cold air seeping out from underneath scared me, and I was thankful that it dissipated as it escaped into the atmosphere, so none of the other patrons felt the chilly arctic winds that escaped from my radiant underclassman. Life continued like normal in the bustling restaurant, noise and chatter reigning supreme. I decided not to pursue the subject any further.

**-0-**

Let's rewind the scene again, for the benefit of those still confused. Where were we? Right, Kawasaki was rushing to confront Komachi and Taishi.

_"T-Taishi… what are you doing here?" Kawasaki finally managed to blurt out._

_Taishi's response was to turn his head away, with a look of guilt breaking out on his face. He gritted his teeth, unable to say anything, and from my vantage point I could see his hands tremble, nestled in Komachi's own._

Now, imagine that, while all of this is happening, I'm looking at Komachi, who, instead of the reaction that you would expect (one of confusion, fear, and anger), looked more like a general planning her next strategic move. Even as Taishi's hands try to grip Komachi's tighter, her own hand tries its best to break free from Taishi's grip, as if to say _don't interrupt me, I'm trying to think here_.

Almost as if a psychic link was established between the two of us, I could read Komachi's face perfectly, and what she intended to do. She was looking at Kawasaki now, whose emotions threatened to erupt at any moment. Evidently, she wasn't expecting things to escalate this much this quickly.

_"Ah, Saki-san…" Komachi began to explain in Taishi's stead. "This isn't, this isn't what it looks li-"_

_"It definitely looks like something to me!" Kawasaki almost screamed. I could feel the eyes of people around us, focusing on the scene that was unfolding in front of the family restaurant._ From the corner of my eye, I see one of the bystanders, Isshiki Iroha, looking at us, dumbfounded.

_"Taishi, didn't I ask you where you were going today?"_

_"I-I did…" Taishi managed to stutter out, but Kawasaki immediately cut him off._

_"You lied to me! You said you were with your friends, but now you're with her?"_

I wanted to cut Kawasaki off – that much was certain. Whatever Komachi and Taishi were planning, this was definitely not something they had anticipated. If I were to act, I had to act now.

Now, imagine the rest of the scene unfolding as normal: I sighed, unearthed my memories, and returned to the path from whence I came.

…

…

…

Of course, that wasn't all that happened – life was not some convenient novel-like drama, where only things portrayed on the page actually happens. In between scenes depicted in novels are countless other incidents deemed unimportant, irrelevant, or useless in the grander scheme of the narrative. Novelists choose what scenes to depict because they forwarded the narrative they wanted to present, or it emphasized the themes they want to say, or that it was a necessary part of the development they wanted their character to undergo. If anything, novels are inaccurate because they portray life as a clean, unified narrative where everything was reported accurately. But that's not true – we leave out as much as we report, and sometimes what we report isn't true.

It wasn't _just _Komachi that left, obviously – Taishi, after some hesitation, darted straight for where Komachi was going, and Kawasaki followed in pursuit, although she stopped for a second to look at me. Her face betrayed a kind of shock, as if she was unable to believe the words that came out of my mouth. _Ah, she's never seen me like this, has she?_

I lean back a bit, against one of the pillars, or walls, or whatever, at the side of the family restaurant where Taishi and Komachi were supposed to rendezvous, wondering what my next move was going to be now – whether to explain myself to Komachi first, or tell Yukinoshita and Yuigahama what happened. Neither course of action appealed to me – not at that moment, not while I was still suffering from the sting of Komachi's slap. I doubt Komachi was going to listen to me, not then. And if I went back to the Service Club now, and told them what happened, I was sure they were going to get angry again, almost like I had betrayed the trust they had invested in me.

In many ways, it was the school trip to Kyoto all over again.

In that moment, my sly underclassman appeared, drawn to the commotion, having witnessed the climax of the entire encounter. She zeroed in on me, ignoring the curious looks from the crowd and the murmurs, engaging me in conversation and putting up her own personal AT Field[1] to drive away all the other onlookers. Slowly, but surely, the crowd dissipated, and we were free to talk, away from everyone's eyes. And from there on we proceed to the scene in the restaurant.

**-0-**

"So, what's the plan?" Isshiki asked.

Now that Isshiki knows the entire story, I'm not sure why she's still sticking around. The only reason she was here in the first place was to find out what happened, since it involved someone she knew. Knowing her, she was probably hoping to use it as some kind of blackmail material against me if she wanted to extract another favor.

"Hell if I know." I tell Isshiki. "I'll probably have to explain what happened to Yukinoshita and Yuigahama first. I didn't expect things to get this out of hand…"

"Um, if that's the case, then why are you still here talking to me?"

I looked at her and tried to put on my most annoyed expression. "Huuuuuuh? Are you serious? You were the one who dragged me here to try so you could hear what happened. Yer' pissin' me off here, lil' lady," I replied, putting on my best impression of a nasty gangster.

"W-wait, Senpai! You's scaring me right now!" Isshiki frantically replied, waving her hands wildly. "You wouldn't get mad at your underclassman, would you?! Look! I took time out of my busy schedule to spend time with you!"

I dropped the scowl and sighed. "I guess that's true. I _suppose_ I'm _blessed _my _extremely cute underclassman_ is taking time out of her _busy_ schedule to spend time with _me_." Wait, did I say that out loud?

"Huh? Senpai? Are you hitting on me?" She reflexively replied, her voice lowering a few octaves as she adopted a 'woah, this guy is creepy' monotone. Evidently, my sarcasm was lost on her. "I'm sorry, but my maiden heart isn't ready yet. I may have a soft spot for shady-looking types with a sensitive side hidden underneath layers of cynicism that I can easily get free meals off but as of now I'm not yet ready for a serious relationship."

"These things are becoming increasingly elaborate," I groaned. She blows me a raspberry in response.

"…seriously though, Senpai," Isshiki suddenly says, her voice becoming more serious. "What was up with earlier?" All of a sudden the atmosphere – which was somewhat cheery and genial, since it was Isshiki and she always tried to maintain a friendly, cheerful atmosphere even with people she didn't like – turned cold, like she had turned on a switch and shifted to Isshiki (Serious) mode. All of a sudden it felt like all the people around us, the buzz and the chatter, didn't matter.

"What do you mean?"

"You know – what you did earlier."

Let me see – earlier I screamed at my little sister, made fun of Kawasaki Taishi in front of his overprotective older sister, and acted in such a way that betrayed my own ideals, in direct contradiction of all the things I swore I desired in front of the only two people I trusted would be able to accept my confused and arrogant ideals.

Even if I tried to explain all the myriad reasons _why _I did the things that I did earlier, would it even make sense? I'm not even sure they make sense to _me_. What did I even hope to achieve? To defuse a potentially explosive situation? To shoulder all the blame for a situation, to shield Kawasaki from the fallout of her mistakes? But that was a lie – I know better now to believe that my act earlier would actually do anything other than hurt the people around me. I _should _know better. Haven't I learned anything this past year? It was Kawasaki's mistake, and what I should have done was help her, even as she committed mistake upon mistake. Teach a man how to fish, as Yukinoshita would have wanted. That was the essence of youth after all, a series of irrevocable mistakes littering the path to adulthood.

So why do things in the way I did? To understand her better? To better grasp why she acts the way that she does? Did I act in the way that I did in the vain hopes of understanding why a certain older sister acted the way that she did to her younger sibling? Or did I do these things out of a twisted sense of self-satisfaction, because this was the only way I knew how to handle things, because I am a stubborn person who refuses to change paths? Do I tell myself and others that I did what I did because of some grand desire to understand someone better, or is it pure sophistry to hide the fact that I'm afraid of what I'm becoming, and that I keep making mistakes and coming back to my starting point as a result?

"…I guess I was just acting selfishly," I finally answered.

"No way. You're lying." Isshiki immediately answered back, her face scrunched in annoyance at the answer I spent so long deliberating. Hey, I actually took a long time trying to figure out the coolest answer there, Isshiki. The best you could do is marvel at my coolness.

"You weren't acting selfishly there. _I _know selfish. And that wasn't it." Isshiki continued.

"Oh? What do you mean there?"

Isshiki began playing with the strands of her hair, twirling them around her little finger. "Well, a selfish person knows what she wants, and insists on getting what she wants, to the detriment of everyone else." Wow, Irohasu, that's amazing, how did you learn so much about selfish people…

"And you definitely _didn't _want to say any of those things," Isshiki concluded.

My ears perked up at that statement.

"You really think so?"

"Duh!" Isshiki's tone was like that of an exasperated upperclassman explaining an exceedingly simple concept to her underclassman. "You tell me you're impressed with how easily I change my speech patterns, but you're an expert at that too. You sound different when you're being honest with how you feel."

"I didn't know you were an expert at detecting when people lie." I replied.

"It's something girls have to learn a young age~!"

Again, don't ask me how she manages to enunciate the hearts. All I know is that, right now, when Isshiki's being entirely honest about her own character, it seems like I can look past her rotten personality and appreciate her for what she is. But it's not like I'm smitten by her cuteness or anything…!

"What I mean is, you were _definitely_ putting on an act there. Anybody who knows you well would immediately notice that."

"What, so you're an expert on me now?" I teasingly replied.

"I've rejected you so many times at this point, so I think I know you well." Isshiki cheekily fired back.

"Oi, underclassmen should show some respect for their elders, shouldn't they?" I groaned. Isshiki's response was to drink the rest of the juice she ordered, so I decided to follow suit and take another sip of my coffee. This wasn't as good as MAX Coffee, but it would do in a pinch.

Of course, there was the follow up question to everything Isshiki raised about my behavior from earlier, one that she never bothered asking: if she could see from a mile away that I was pretending, did everyone else realize it?

Well, there was honestly no need for me to consider that question. Whether or not the Kawasaki siblings realized it didn't matter to me as much, even if I did it for Kawasaki. Honestly, I could care less what Taishi or Kawasaki thought of me after this incident. Because, at the moment of my cruel words, all that I could focus on was Komachi's face, stained with anger and pain.

Isshiki didn't bother asking me either, but I believe she had already guessed as much that I had an idea that Komachi and Taishi's rendezvous had ulterior motives in mind. I was expecting her to ask, but I guess she still had some remaining decency in her bones, as she chose not to invade what little privacy I had left and ask me a personal question. But still, I was prepared to answer the inevitable follow-up question: _if it was blatantly obvious that you were pretending, and if you knew that Komachi was simply pretending to be lovey-dovey with Taishi, why did the two of you act in the way that you did?_

"Oh, Senpai," Isshiki suddenly said, breaking me out of my reverie. "The Vice-President texted me. He said there was some important StuCo matter we have to deal with. Is it fine if I leave you here?" She gives me a rueful grin, as if apologizing for depriving me of her presence. Even when she's being nice, Isshiki Iroha is being sly, I suppose…

"Yeah, go ahead." I rested my head against my right hand and motion to shoo her away with my left. "Go have fun with your duties. And," I added, somewhat shyly, with a low voice, "Thanks for listening to my problems."

Isshiki, seemingly taken aback by what I said, initially gave me a look of surprise, but then she began to grin. This was not like her foxy, sly smiles that she used whenever she asked for favors, hiding some ulterior motive that was bound to be a pain in the ass for the rest of us. Maybe because she had lowered her guard around me, or maybe because she was honestly taken aback by what I said, but when she smiled, it was a pure, radiant, happy smile, as if she was genuinely happy to have been of help. Or perhaps that was me projecting onto her, maybe. The only thing that I could definitely say was that at that moment, my underclassman, Isshiki Iroha, was definitely the cutest person in the restaurant.

"Alright! See you some other time, Senpai!" She says as she leaves, waving at me every step of the way as she exits the restaurant. Predictably, people were unable to cast their gaze away from the retreating figure of the underclassman who was waving at me. Some of them were even giving me weird looks, as if to question how someone as shifty as me could know someone like her. _Believe me, it's not all fun and games…_

Of course, I knew very well how painful it is to deal with Isshiki Iroha. After all, it seems like the Shrewd Irohasu had left me with the bill.

**-0-**

"I'm home."

Since our parents were both corporate slaves and knew the importance of accumulating capital, Komachi and I knew what to expect upon coming home – an empty house, our voice echoing and travelling through the darkened hallways and bouncing against wooden doors, mindful of every creak and squeak that our footsteps make on the wooden floor as we make our way inside. This was a typical household in modern-day Japan, so it's not like Komachi and I were raised to be delinquent kids because we craved our parents' attention, or anything asinine like that.

What it meant was that, because our parents were rarely there, we were expected to sort out our own problems. We've had our fair share of spats and arguments, but I suppose we learned how to patch things up on our own since our parents weren't there to smooth things over for us.

Most of the lights were dimmed, even if it was past dinner time for most people. Normally, I would take that as a sign that Komachi wasn't home yet, but I could see Komachi's indoor slippers were missing, even if she hid her shoes to pretend she wasn't home yet. My sister may be remarkably mature in some aspects, but she's still a kid, after all.

That was fine. I drew a long, exhausted sigh, trying to organize the rumbling of emotions in my chest. Logically, rationally, I knew what I was supposed to say, and I knew what had transpired, and I knew Komachi understood, but it was still difficult to apologize for making a mistake, especially when all of this could have been avoided.

Many people believe that siblings can easily guess what the other is thinking, perhaps because of how much time they spend together. One well-worn cliché of shounen anime is that of the set of psychic twins, who are capable of reading each other's' minds and sharing their powers. The expectation, according to these clichés, is that siblings are more attuned to each other's feelings and emotions, and in extreme cases, they could even finish each other's sentences.

The truth couldn't be farther from fiction, and I could easily attest to that. Sibling pairs are just like any other relationship, and the amount of affection to be found in sibling pairs vary just as much as in any other kind of relationship. To generalize and assume that siblings intuitively understand what the other feels is a fantasy, and an asinine fantasy at that, one that leads to numerous misunderstandings and problems.

Just look at Kawasaki Saki and Kawasaki Taishi.

Just look at Hikigaya Hachiman and Hikigaya Komachi.

Just look at Yukinoshita Yukino and Yukinoshita Haruno.

_Now, why am I thinking of Yukinoshita at this time of the night?_

Komachi was lying at the coach, staring at the blank television. Whenever she was annoyed, or sad, or generally distressed, she would take up a majority of the couch and stare into empty space, preferably while dark, claiming that it was relaxing and allowed her to clear her thoughts. In a way, I could understand the sentiment – sometimes, the miasma of thoughts dominating one's brain could be overwhelming, and you need to unwind by thinking of nothing, or gazing at something uncomplicated, like staring at Yuigahama Yui. A very Buddhist Zen concept, if I say so myself. An overwhelming sense of pride overtakes me as I think of Komachi, at such a young age, considering such philosophical thoughts.

"Yo, Komachi," I opened, adopting what I imagined was my gruff, brotherly voice.

Predictably, Komachi didn't reply. I leaned over the sofa to look at my sister, whose back was against me, playing with a can of soda that she probably wanted to pretend was alcohol. She had changed out of her school uniform, probably because it was stained with her tears. I shuddered at the thought of her running away in tears, but pushed forward nonetheless.

Since the current conversation track was not working, I decided to try another route. "How'd the thing with Taishi go? Did it work out?"

I crouched down next to the door leading upstairs and leaned against it. This was going to take a while.

"I tried contacting Kawasaki, but she wasn't replying. I'm kind of worried about her, since she can get pretty bad when she's panicking." I continued, as if talking to air. I knew for a fact that Komachi could hear me just fine, and I didn't mind her ignoring me – I'm used to it. "Hopefully Taishi can explain it well enough to her."

Still the cold shoulder from Komachi. Honestly, it's like talking to a wall.[2]

The silence between us was nothing new, but I hated it every time it happened. I was _used_ to not talking to anyone, sure, but it was strange not to have Komachi talk to me. At the very least, I knew that I could count on hearing Komachi's bright voice, even at the height of my chuunibyou phase when I tried to shun everyone, or when I'm being particularly abrasive. As much as I pride myself on being a loner, I honestly could not imagine myself not having Komachi to bicker with. Would I have gone crazy, having nobody to talk to? Or would I have become incredibly lonely?

"…that went terribly, huh?" I said, after much hesitation.

"…yeah. You were horrible, bro." Komachi finally replied. "Really, really horrible. You couldn't even stick to the script."

"I didn't _know_ the script in the first place. I was ad-libbing the entire time."

"Well, maybe you shoulda learned how not to overact. You'd make a good Sentai villain, but you'd never work in a TV drama."

"You'd be a crappy heroine too, if we're judging acting abilities."

Komachi, from her position on the couch, began to giggle a little.

"The hell was that, bro? Did you watch too many gangster films or something?" She sat up, turned to me, and adopted an unpleasant grimace and hunched shoulders while pretending she was holding a shinai behind her back. "_Ya little punk, whatcha think yer doin' with my sister, huh?" _

"That's the worse gangster impression I've ever heard," I said, offering my expert acting criticism.

"Better than _yours_." Komachi replied. "Oh, my poor, stupid brother, why'd you have to go and ruin everything?"

"Blame Kawasaki."

"Which one, younger or older?"

"Both, maybe?" We share a chuckle over that joke, and a few minutes we let silence reign over the household.

"…Kawasaki-kun was worried about his sister." Komachi began. I noted her conscious choice to refer to Taishi in that mode, but decided not to make a fuss about it. "He said he didn't think his sister had any friends, that she didn't have anyone to confide to, and he was worried sick about it."

I wasn't surprised that Taishi thought that, considering his sister's personality, but I had to ask. "Did he not talk to his sister about it?"

"Well, he wants to, but you know how it is with siblings. It's hard to talk, especially in such a large family." She tossed the used can of soda into the nearby trash can, and surprisingly, the can found its mark. "Plus, Kawasaki-san's a very private person, and Kawasaki-kun didn't want to be a burden to her. So he tries to keep to himself."

"Kawasaki's the same," I reply. "Honestly, those two siblings are a pain. I still don't get what you see in him."

My teasing remarks seem to have gotten to Komachi, as she scrambled out of the couch and rushed towards me. "There is _nothing_ going on between me and Taishi-kun. Got it?"

I grinned as she tried to stare holes in my face with her piercing gaze. "Uh-huh, sure. So what was your brilliant plan?"

Komachi retreated from me and sat on the couch again. "What I figured was, I knew you were friends with Kawasaki-san…"

"We're not friends."

"Whatever, bro. I knew Kawasaki-san would inevitably ask for your help since you're friendly with her and owe her a ton of favors anyway. So I told Taishi-kun to get her to worry about his well-being, and she'd drag you and Yukino-san and Yui-chan along to help her out, just like we did when she was busy moonlighting as a bartender."

"So you wanted the Service Club involved."

"In a way." She stuck her tongue out like a kid. "He was worried that Kawasaki-san didn't have anyone to rely on that was her age, and he wasn't going to be convinced otherwise. I knew you guys were there for her, but he doesn't know you guys, so…"

"Right, right. But why not just talk to us directly? We would have done something. Yuigahama would have jumped at the chance to be friends with Kawasaki, and you know how Yukinoshita can get with requests."

Komachi looked away, as if embarrassed with what she was about to say. "Erm… truth be told, I was…kind of… you know.." At this point, she began something about me and motorcycles. "Oh, that sounds like it scored a ton of points!" She began squeeing at her own statement.

"_Huh?_ Dearest little sister, could you repeat that?"

"Nothing! I just didn't want to be a bother to you~!"

"This _entire thing _was a bother already!" I replied, annoyed.

"Because you made things worse! I was expecting you to get involved, but I didn't expect you to take things that far!" Komachi fired back. "Knowing you, I expected you would try to do things on your own, so it wouldn't have to be a big Service Club thing. If Taishi saw you helping Kawasaki-san out I can easily make him believe she's on good terms with the rest of the Service Club!"

I pinched the bridge of my nose, annoyed at the roundabout nature of Komachi's plan. "So you're saying… that you were counting on us… acting very specifically… based on what you know of us. Did I get that right?"

"Well, yeah," Komachi replies wryly. "I know you guys are busy with your own thing, so I didn't want to bring my own problems to the mix."

Surprisingly, my little sister, in her own way, was being considerate of us.

"I guess I owe you an apology, then." I tell her, scratching the side of my head. "To be honest, I was fully counting on you understanding what I was trying to do… and I guess I went too far. I guess I was abusing your understanding too much."

Komachi smiled wearily, stood up, and made her way next to me. She sat down with a thud and nestled her head against my shoulders. Her hair was messy but warm, and I didn't mind it that much. I patted her head and stroked her hair gently.

"I have no clue what in the world you were trying to do there, but don't you ever do that again, ok?" She whispered. Her eyes were closed and she was nudging me gently with her head, smiling like a Cheshire cat. "I hate it when you try to act like the bad guy. It doesn't fit you at all."

"I don't…" I began to say, but she silenced me by placing the index finger of her left hand against my lips.

"Bein' the bad guy in a Precure or a Sentai show might look cool, but it's tough work." She says, gently. "I don't ever want my bro to do something like that. You're way better off as the Green Hero or somethin'."

"Excuse me? Can't I be the Red Hero? Why am I one of the sidekicks?"

"My trashy brother can't be a hero. He's way too unreliable for that." Komachi giggled. "But seriously, don't you do that ever again. I know Yukino-san and Yui-chan don't like it when you do that and act like everything's fine afterwards."

"What do they have do with this?"

"_Everything_." She looks up to me, her eyes serious and determined, like they were when I first spotted her and Taishi making their way to the restaurant. "I guess I got mad at you because I thought you were finally doing what _you_ wanted to do with yourself, and here you were pretending to be someone you're not. I know you've been spending way too much time with Haruno-san, but still."

"What does she have to do with this?" I asked, dumbfounded that she even brought up her name.

"Isn't it obvious?" She replied, and she began giggling again.

**-0-**

In the end, what _are_ siblings?

I still don't have a definitive answer. In the first place, coming up with a definitive answer is pointless. What it means to be a sibling differs from person to person, and trying to define the kind of relationship each individual sibling pairs have is an exercise in futility.

Komachi's plan, as roundabout as it was, made some sort of mad sense – Taishi was worried that Kawasaki had no friends, and she wanted to prove that, when push comes to shove, that Kawasaki would have people she could rely on. When I pressed her for reasons why, she explained that she felt it would have been more 'natural' if we didn't know the full extent of the plan, so she deliberately held back on explaining things to us and relied on me grasping what she was thinking. Evidently, she wanted to prove to Taishi that Kawasaki had at least me to rely on, and if I knew, I would have been a terrible actor and would have given it away immediately.

I still don't buy that, and I still think it was a terrible plan. But I couldn't blame Komachi, since I was guilty of the same thing as well, and I suppose the Kawasaki siblings were guilty of the same thing too. We all assumed we knew what the other person felt, would do, could do, wanted to do, and acted without consulting one another, believing that we knew what the best course of action was.

When I chose to do what I chose to do, it was with the understanding that Komachi would understand why I chose to antagonize Taishi. Don't get me wrong – she definitely did, but she also could not approve of it, no matter what reasons I had, or what sophistry I wrapped myself in, or what justifications I presented. All she knew was that she could not accept it, and my mistake was assuming that she would be willing to accept what I did.

Komachi told me, over dinner, that Taishi managed to explain things to her, but I'm not satisfied with that. I think I'll look for her tomorrow and try to explain things to her. Hopefully, her fears over Taishi lessen a little, if only for Taishi's sake. I, for one, had no desire to be dragged into one of his harebrained schemes again.

…well, that's for tomorrow. Right now, I have to worry about a _certain _penalty game.

"Ah! No, don't slice the carrots like that!"

Komachi, in full boot camp mode, swatted my right hand, the hand I was using to hold the knife. Hey, hey, isn't that dangerous?

"Seriously, my trashy brother can't even do the most basic of tasks in the kitchen… you can at least cook the rice, right?"

"M-maybe… it might turn out a little burnt, though?" I reply, weakly. On Komachi's face I could see the tell-tale signs of annoyance, which means I would have to appease her with sweets or such.

Well, I still have a lot of things to do:

1) Talk to Kawasaki and explain things to her

2) Prepare the boxed lunches for Yukinoshita and Yuigahama

3) Explain to them whatever happened today, and hope they don't get too mad

Easier said than done. Yukinoshita's extremely picky with food, although at least I think Yuigahama would willingly eat whatever I gave her. I mean, hey, it's almost impossible to screw up curry, right…?

Well, that's for tomorrow. Right now, I have to get through the cooking, hopefully without losing a finger or two.

**-0-**

**EPILOGUE:**

"What?!"

"N-nee-san, calm down!"

"How can I calm down?! You're telling me that - that all that worrying - all that concern was for **nothing?!**"

"N-no! I mean, maybe? Wait, wait! Please don't get mad, Nee-san!"

"And you dragged Hikigaya-kun into it!"

"D-d-d-d-don't worry, Nee-san! Hikigaya-san told me she's 90% sure Onii-san knows what was happening and was just playing along!"

"God, I'll have to apologize to him later on..."

"I'm sure he won't mind! He's a good guy!"

"He also **looked like an idiot out there** because of your stupid goddamn plan!"

"...I didn't mess things up for the two of you though, right?"

"...I hope not."

"..."

"Oh, and Taishi?"

"Y-yeah?"

"Why the hell are you calling Hikigaya 'Onii-san?'"

"..."

"Hey, hey, is Haa-chan Onii-san?"

**-0-**

**A/N:** Wow, a chapter without Yukino and Yui! I understand that this chapter's a huge departure from the formula I've established with the previous chapters (I don't think I spend a single scene in the club room!), but variety is the spice of life and all that. I've experimented a bit with the narration, the dialogue, the characterization of certain people, and I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on them. I do read all your reviews, and I frequently edit chapters to fix mistakes and whatnot, so feel free to comment!

Consider this the end of this story arc, although obviously I'll address all the dangling plot points with the next story arc I'm planning. But what I'm planning for the next chapter is a standalone "AU" of sorts: a Valentine's Day story with Iroha, in a universe where Haruno decides not to mess with high school kids and be a little bit patient about character development. Seriously, Haruno? Stay tuned for AU 1: What We Talk About When We Talk About Chocolate!

Anyway, what did you think of the chapter? Leave a review!

* * *

[1] From Neon Genesis Evangelion. A literal shield protecting the characters in their mecha, the manifestation of one's ego and individuality.

[2] A line from Final Fantasy 8, first uttered by one of the characters, Quistis, to the protagonist, Squall. Sidenote: Squall is irritating, and I want to punch him in the face.


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